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Hair News - February 2004 |
| Author: Karen Shelton |
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Date: February 2004 |
Professional
Skin Care Brands Outpace
Mainstream Market
LITTLE FALLS, NJ, February, 2004 -
Bolstered by the booming spa business and a growing distribution
in retail outlets, the U.S. market for professional skin care
products has outperformed the market for standard retail skin
care products to a significant degree. And a newly published
study by Kline & Company maintains that there are still plenty
of opportunities to be exploited in this thriving market sector.
Kline's study, THE U.S. PROFESSIONAL
SKIN CARE MARKET 2003, states that sales in this
segment, estimated at more than $0.5 billion at the manufacturer
level, have grown nearly 10% per year over the last five years.
The traditional market for facial treatments has expanded by
just 5.4% during the same period. A big reason for the growth of
professional brands has been increased media exposure,
especially for clinical brands marketed by dermatologists.
Led by . Perricone, dermatologist brands
have made a big impact in the retail market. Ironically, the
physician-endorsed skin care products have not seen as brisk a
business through dermatologists' offices or cosmetic surgery
centers.
"Only about 20% of plastic surgeons and
dermatologists in the U.S. sell skin care products to their
patients, so this is still a pretty small channel for sales,"
explains Lenka Contreras, group director of the Consumer
Products Practice in Kline's research division. "But when we
asked physicians which skin care products they recommend to
their patients, most of them named the fastest-growing
mainstream brands in the industry. This is probably not a
coincidence, so there's a real opportunity to bolster sales by
detailing doctors and supplying free samples."
The leading outlet for professional skin care
brands is spas, which have expanded the number of doors in the
U.S. by more than 18% per year over the last five years. Kline's
study reports that the spa and salon channel accounts for nearly
65% of the total market for professional products, but that
retail stores have actually taken about 8% of these sales from
spas since 1998.
"Marketers of spa products have largely
ridden the wave of new spa openings rather than actively
pursuing strategies to grow their brands," says Contreras.
"Considering that sales growth of their products has lagged
behind growth of spa locations, there are definitely more
possibilities for growth to exploit here."
She adds that, while the professional segment
might not become a core distribution channel for a large,
traditional C&T marketer, it could represent a very attractive
alternative channel to drive growth and build sales. >
"The segment has been booming but still has
plenty of room for growth," Contreras says. "There are low
barriers to entry, high consumer demand, and big potential for
profit. What's not to like?"
Established in 1959, Kline & Company (www.klinegroup.com)
is a business consulting and market research firm serving
clients worldwide in the cosmetics and toiletries, household
cleaning products, and other consumer products sectors.
For information on how to subscribe to
THE U.S. PROFESSIONAL SKIN CARE MARKET 2003, go
to
http://klinegroup.ecnext.com/skincare1792, or contact
Lenka Contreras
at (973) 435-3407. Potential subscribers based in Europe should
contact
Jonathan Duff
at +32-2 776 0738.
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