Health and beauty has been one of the strongest retail sectors in the U.S., with companies such as Sephora and Ulta continuing to achieve impressive growth in 2017. Now UK retailers are catching the sales wave.
With annual spend per shopper forecast to rise by £73 ($95.47) to £487 ($636.90), the market is expected to reach £26.7 billion ($34.92 billion) by 2022, according to GlobalData. Over the next five years, the overall market is slated to grow 21.1% (in part driven by inflation that is set to reach 2.1% in 2017). That’s a growth total that outperforms all other retail sectors in the country, according to the report, titled: The UK Health & Beauty Market 2017-2022.
During this five-year period, skin care will be a major driver of UK health and beauty revenue. GlobalData predicts that skin care will be the fastest-growing subsector by 2022, with sales rising 27.9% due to product innovation in both the mass and premium markets. Skin preparation products such as masks, serums and primers are expected to be the heavy sales generators.
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Given that the health and beauty market remains female-dominated — with 78% of women buying into the category, compared to 41.5% of males — the report recommends that retailers go further to encourage men to buy into additional categories.
“Consumer appetite for new cult products is expected to grow over the next five years, providing retailers and brands with license to push the boundaries and introduce new innovative items to their ranges to drive impulse purchases and spend per head,” said Kate Ormrod, Lead Analyst at GlobalData in a statement.
Boots, the Walgreens-owned health and beauty retailer, is forecast to remain the UK market leader in 2017 with a 20.5% share. But its share continues to drop owing to price pressure from general merchandisers and discounters as well as store environment upgrades at department stores.
