Change in consumer behaviour affects Italian cosmetics industry
Recent figures announced at Cosmoprof Worldwide by Unipro state that the global market for Italian cosmetics is not worth more than 9,600 million euros.
Although this figure is down ever so slightly on the year before, taking the financial crisis into consideration and the fact that exports are up seven per cent to a value of nearly 2,900 million euros, and the whole landscape is looking quite steady.
Different channels
Unipro claims that consumers have not been put off by the economic situation; however, they have changed their shopping behaviour, and this has taken effect on the different channels.
The first reports on consumption trends indicate that the alternative channels and the herbalist shops were the only ones to be on the up, confirming that a far-reaching transformation in consumers’ buying habits is under way.
The Italian organisation says that the evidence points to a readiness to change channel and to spend less, going about choosing hedonistic buys with more freedom and fewer scruples.
Change
This change in consumer behaviour has resulted in a drop in consumption in the pharmacy channel, as well as in perfume shops and the professional channels; down by an average of five per cent in beauty salons, and six per cent in hairdressing salons.
Due to a big fall-off of sales in hyper- and supermarkets, balanced out by growth in specialised chains, the mass market recorded the tiniest of reductions (0.4 per cent), turning over 3,800 million euros.
Speaking at Cosmoprof 2013, Fabio Rossello, Unipro president said: “the various activities undertaken by the Italian Cosmetics Industry Association confirm the vitality of an industry cluster that is already working on the period following on the current negative climate.”
“You only need to observe events like [Cosmoprof] to see how it expresses the entrepreneurial capacities and values that enable it to maintain its competitive edge in Italy and the world as a whole.”
