Professional skin care market struggles but a return to growth is forecast

“The recession’s impact in Europe and the United States resulted in a change in spending patterns, a decline in the frequency of visits to spas and physicians offices, and a shift to lower-priced brands,”​ said Kline industry manager Karen Doskow.

But despite the decline in these markets, Kline notes that the market leaders in this category have battled hard, trying to fend off dampened sales with a raft of new product launches to try and attract consumers back.

Unique offerings stand out from the crowd​

“Products that were unique, multi-tasking, or offering dual benefits certainly stood out for the recession-stricken consumer,”​ said Doskow, who also noted that there was more of a trend towards diversification and innovation catering to the anti-aging market.

The report highlights that while markets in the US and Europe suffered ‘substantial declines’ amidst the faltering consumer spend in those markets, quite the opposite has been true in the fast growing BRIC markets, comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Indeed, Kline’s Professional Skin Care 2009 Global Series report states that growth in the BRIC markets during the year was recorded at 11.1 percent.

In-between Botox treatments​

The report highlights that another area with significant potential is scientifically developed skin care products that target the periods when consumers are in-between cosmetics treatments such as Botox.

As the time in between these types of treatments is extended due to financial constraints, demand for products that fill this gap is expected to continue to grow, evinced by products such as Babor’s Skinovage Nanocell Age Protective Cream and Skinceuticals’ Retexturing Activator.

The report also underlines the importance of these type of products by stressing the fact that over 40 percent of professional skin care sales in the US are accounted for by anti-aging targeted products, while the figure is nearly 50 percent in Europe.

Different anti-aging demands in different markets​

Likewise, there are also different anti-aging demands in different markets, with the demand being led by whitening products in Asia and anti-cellulite product in markets such as Europe and Brazil.

As Europe and North America emerge from the tough economic times, the Kline report points out that this trend will be reflected in future growth figures for the category.

Looking a head, the report states that professional skin care is likely to grow by around 5.6 percent a year to 2014 in the US. But the researchers also state that this could be a conservative estimate as growth could register more than 11 percent a year if favorable market conditions prevail.