Fashion-driven hair care category stays strong

Drug Store News, Oct 8, 2001

Despite an economy on the brink of recession, it seems retailers can still feel good about the future of the hair care category. Worth more than $5.5 billion in food, drug and mass, according to data from Information Resources Inc. for the 52 weeks ended July 15, many of the same factors that have grown the business in the last several months--including a growing fascination with hair coloring products across a widened range of consumer demographics, the emergence of salon-inspired mass market products and items developed to repair damaged hair--should continue to drive sales in the category well into 2002.

According to Jeremy Cage, Procter & Gamble's marketing director of hair care for the north region, the hair care business will persevere in drug, he said, even in a soft economy, because "for $5 or less, hair care is still a luxurious escape [consumers can afford]. I would say that in times of economic hardship, hair care is something that consumers can hold on to as their little treat," he noted.

Indeed, in a soft economy the consumer's need for hair care doesn't go away, agreed Dick Hynes, group vice president of North American consumer products for Alberto-Culver. "People [will always be] conscious of their personal looks and personal care," Hynes said. "Despite the economy, people are not going to quit styling or caring about their hair."

"People need these items no matter what ... people are still going to be washing their hair no matter what," echoed Carrie Bonner, senior research analyst for Kline & Co. "Certain products, like shampoos and toothpastes--the commodity type items--are recession-proof."

But beyond basic hygiene, retailers can count on fashion and style to continue to move the needle on mass market hair care. "One of the things that will help push the category is the hairstyle trends that are going on," Bonner continued. "Hairstyles are now as much of a fashion statement as makeup is. That's the trend we saw emerging in 2000, and we see it continuing in 2001. It should be continuing going forward."

If anything, when dollars get tight, consumers tend to forego expenses such as salon visits, turning to mass market products that allow them to affect the most current styles at home. Products such as White Rain's recently restaged Toni Home Perm line and the continued emergence of new hair color brands, such as Revlon's High Dimension, L'Oreal Open, Gamier Lumia Brightening Color Creme and Clairol Herbal Essence, speak to this need for consumers to take hair care matters into their own hands.

Certainly suppliers have been successful in bringing a multitude of new users into the category. It is estimated that as many as 50 percent of women color their hair; not just to cover gray, but to experiment and accessorize with hair color. Combe's Just For Men brand was the No. 5 brand in the category last year, according to IRI, speaking to the growing number of men who are participating in the category. Teens, male and female, have shown a major interest in hair color, and with more than 31 million of them walking around each week with an average of $84 in their pockets--more disposable income than any generation that has preceded them--hair color brand marketers will continue to target those dollars, as well.

The new product launches aim to bring a new group of users into the category.

"There's so much activity going on now from marketers trying to draw in customers that aren't coloring their hair," Bonner said. "One example would be L'Oreal Open. They've been very successful with Feria in the past, which targets a more trend-setting consumer. Open is going for the more subtle person. It focuses on 'you, only better.' It might be for someone that doesn't want as dramatic an effect as Feria offers. ... Also, Procter & Gamble I'm sure will be spending heavily in that category."

Looking forward, Cage expects the home-coloring trend and the upsurge in styling items to continue, which will have a carryover effect into another important segment of the hair care business. "We see more and more consumers coloring and straightening their hair," Cage said. "[But] fundamentally, they're damaging their hair. So, there will be an increasing role for conditioners."

Through July 15, hair conditioner sales were up nearly 9 percent across all retail channels, according to IRI, reaching just shy of $1.1 billion.

And for all the consumers who understand their hair care needs, there are many more who need help defining them, leaving still more room to grow the category, according to Hynes. "It's a little known fact that 75 percent of women walk around [thinking] that they have a hair care problem of one definition or another," Hynes explained. "So there's this eternal search for the [perfect product] that's appropriate [for that consumer's] hair care condition."

Jeff Rubin, beauty buyer for Harmon Discount Stores, said he expected manufacturers to continue to spark growth in hair care as long as the trade "keeps getting that message across ... [that] the public no longer has normal hair, fine hair or oily hair, but that they now can have curly hair or straight hair."