Each to their own: customisation and its impact on beauty in 2016

22-Dec-2016 - Last updated on 22-Dec-2016 at 11:46 GMT

With smaller, more nimble beauty players doing better than bigger competitors in saturated, developed markets, the need for brands to be responsive to consumer demands became increasingly clear throughout 2016.

Personalisation, or customisation, has repeatedly been picked out industry commentators of late as being a crucial trend, with consumers keen for product relevant to their specific mix of cultural, skin type and lifestyle needs. Here, we present a roundup of how the trend developed over the past year.

Apps in the spotlight

The potential of mobile apps to offer highly individual solutions has been a central area of innovation.

Slapp, an app that matches users with colour cosmetics of their ideal shades, was launched this year. Essentially an ecommerce platform, it taps into the rising consumer demand for individually exact beauty and personal care products.

Slapp is just one of many apps in recent months that have taken on the demand within beauty for a personalised skin care offering, including OBJ’s ConnectBeauty and the recently launched MDacne app .

Colour cosmetics

A leader in the trend is Lancome, the L’Oréal-owned colour cosmetics player. This year, it launched its Le Teint Particulieur foundation in the US - a product that uses an innovative skin analysis consultation system to measure skin tone and develop a closely matching formula for the consumer's specific shade.

The product has enjoyed a strong, positive consumer response, and is due to hit stores in Europe from spring 2017.

Fragrance

Alongside colour cosmetics, fragrance is another category primed to profit from the customisation trend.

According to market research firm Mintel, reviving waning consumer interest in the market is key to generating growth, and customisation is a key way of doing so.

“Customisation should be a central element in this category, where purchases are driven by personal aspirations and scent preferences,” says Emmanuelle Moeglin, global beauty and personal care trend consultant for the firm.