• Consumers are heavily influenced by celebrity trends so retailers are advised to take some interest in emerging styles and range products to suit this demand.
• Make the most of seasonal gifting opportunities in the personal category by positioning high-impact packaging in prominent locations.
• Multifunction devices that come with multiple attachments or accessories are popular options, catering for a range of styles and preferences.
• At the premium end of the market, a strong sales pitch can be made for upgraded products that will save time and money over the long run.
In this image-driven, narcissistic society, consumers are more and more obsessed with their style and appearance. These trends — beards, tattoos, socklessness and big hair, for example — are dictated to by our favourite actors and actresses, musicians, models and sports stars. Because of social media, these icons can immediately beam their latest look into the hands of followers on their smartphone, and these fans will seek to replicate their heroes. It’s not cheap looking good these days so retailers and suppliers should be prepared to capture the interest and dollars on offer from personal care.
There is room for the category to grow by swapping consumers over from manual shavers to electric or offering salon-quality treatments at home. The right product will provide a cheaper alternative in the long run, compared to forking out money to replace disposable products or outsourcing beauty routines to salons.
This Christmas, Remington, distributed by Spectrum Brands, is striving to ensure retailers have the perfect gifts to offer consumers with limited edition gift giving lines in high impact packaging.
“Personal care products make greatly appreciated gifts throughout the year and, in particular, during gift giving periods with sales volumes often doubling across personal care categories,” said Martin Szymiczek, Spectrum Brands product manager for personal care.
“A high percentage of men’s shaving and grooming purchases are made by women seeking to find an ideal gift. To assist consumers and store staff to make the right gift selection, Remington has introduced new packaging to simplify the decision process.”
The packaging on new Remington products has been redesigned to clearly communicate three core benefits to consumers. For example for a Men’s Shaver the core consumer benefits are ‘closeness’, ‘comfort and convenience’ and ‘power’.
Szymiczek said the packaging creates a strong merchandising story and stands out on shelf. “Be sure to place these items in prominent store locations to drive incremental sales and capitalise on the biggest gift giving season.”
At the top of the Remington range is the new HyperFlex Shave & Trim (XR1390AU, RRP $199), which allows consumers to interchange between the HyperFlex close cut shaving head and a new dedicated Beard Trimmer head with five length settings.
“Published research suggests that we have hit ‘peak beard’ and that we will start seeing the current trend shift in favour of clean shaven men, so ranging a dual-purpose shaver at an accessible price point to consumers has never been more important than now,” Szymiczek said.
In women’s personal care, epilator sales are booming. “Remington is fuelling this growth further with an innovative launch into the $100-plus epilator price category, which accounts for 48 per cent of epilator sales,” Szymiczek said.
The Remington Smooth&Silky Ultimate Cordless Wet/Dry Epilator (EP7035AU, RRP$179.95) not only has an epilator head with titanium coated hypoallergenic tweezers, but also a range of attachments including a motorised exfoliating head, callus remover head, and shaver head for sensitive areas.
Another versatile product for women is the Smooth&Silky Deluxe Shave & Trim (WDF4838AU, RRP$99.95) a wet/dry rechargeable shaver that features titanium coated hypoallergenic foils and an innovative dual sided flexible trimmer; enabling the trimming of long hairs in any direction. The added in-pack benefits of a dedicated multi-length bikini trimmer, exfoliating glove, charging stand and premium storage bag to keep the entire kit organised.
In gift giving seasons, a retailer’s focus should be on suggesting meaningful and quality products that last, said Tom Paltridge, senior marketing manager, Philips Consumer Lifestyle Australia.
“While this may result in less frequent purchases — rather than buying an electric shaver as a gift every year it’s now every two — it will go a long way in building trust and loyalty with the retailer’s offering and sales team, as well as improving the chances of satisfied customers returning to the store.
“Additionally, an increase in loyalty and trust may also provide retailers with the opportunity to upsell and pull back that margin through more premium products.”
Philips recently launched the pinnacle of its electric shaving portfolio the Shaver Series 9000 — five highly advanced high-end electric shavers — and they are extremely confident they will appeal to every man.
Incorporating Contour Detect Technology, the three heads on each shaver can now flex in eight different directions to adjust to any face shape. Their adaptability helps to cut up to 20 per cent more hair (compared to the Philips SensoTouch) in a single pass for a quicker, cleaner shave.
“When you have products of such quality and that you genuinely meet the personal care requirements of every man, it’s important to really get behind them,” Paltridge said.
A large-scale awareness campaign, including a TVC, is planned to promote the range and drive online and offline traffic to Philips retailer partners.
For Panasonic the focus for personal care is on making life easy and offering a range of products at different price points.
“Nowadays, while men are certainly more conscious of personal care, they still want a quick and easy solution that is going to deliver results,” said Sophie Barton group manager, home appliance and air conditioning, Panasonic Australia.
“It’s important to offer a range of personal care products at varying prices, while promoting products that make a man’s life a little easier!”
Panasonic offers a range of wet and dry shavers including the 3-blade wet/dry shaver (ES-LT71-S541, RRP $299) and the lower priced Wet & Dry Rechargeable Shaver (ES4029, RRP $89.95).
Hair Care
In the hair care market, where each head of hair has different needs, women want products that will help them achieve salon styling at home.
“For the modern woman — whether she is getting ready for work, a night out on the town or for a special occasion — there are three things that she wants: salon styling at home, on-trend styles and fast and easy results,” said Remington hair care product manager Ermina Isanovic.
Rather than trying to stay across hair trends, retailers should cover their bases by ranging versatile, multifunction products.
“Hair trends change rapidly and consumers want to stay on top. Social media such as Instagram, where celebrities and designers share the latest look are driving daily inspirations. To keep up with trends consumers are looking for styling tools that will allow them to create more than one look,” Isanovic said.
For example the Curl Revolution Stylist Kit (CI850AU RRP $69.95) is an innovative curling wand with an in-built motor that automatically rotates hair around the barrel, and with three barrel sizes, consumers can create different looks.
Conair is capitalising on a consumer trend of trading up to professional styling tools with the launch of a “new era in hair dryers” under its VS Sassoon brand.
“Conair is about bringing professional salon performance technology to the retail market to trade customers up and drive sales growth with innovation,” Conair’s marketing director Peter Brewer said.
“After our success in the hair styler segment with our innovative Curl Secret styler and our Big Hair Styler the previous year, our global trend research identified a consumer need for a professional premium dryer that dries hair faster, but is also quieter in operation and lighter in weight.”
The new 3Q High Performance Dryer (VSP3QA RRP$172) has a new advanced ‘SmartTech’ brushless motor, designed to last up to 5,000 hours (compared to an average of 200 hours for a standard DC dryer) and is backed by a 5-year warranty.
A quality hair dryer is an investment that pays off by saving time and reducing damage to the hair said Conair haircare category manager Eve Hughes.
“We are delivering styling tools that allow our customer to easily and quickly style their hair at home getting salon results and reducing the cost and time needed to visit a hair salon.
“Traditional dryer motors use carbon brushes that wear out over time causing the motor to stop working. This next generation brushless motor uses magnets and electronics to drive the motors extending the life of the dryer by 10 times a traditional AC motor,” Hughes said.
Beauty
Also aimed at diverting business away from the beautician is Conair’s expanded True Glow skincare segment range. The True Glow Collection is targeted at women who like to indulge in grooming and beauty treatments at home, according to category manager Claire Durand.
This coming November, last year’s release of the True Glow Sonic Facial Brush (CSFBA, RRP$119), will be joined by the True Glow Compact Lighted Mirror (CBE12PKA, RRP $29.95) and the True Glow Warm Steam and Cool Mist Facial Sauna (C3704CRA, RRP $69.95). The latter of these two additions replicates an at-home spa treatment with the steam opening pores to prepare the face for a deep cleanse. After cleansing, the cool mist closes pores.
Beauty products are also a key focus for FitZone Solutions this Christmas. FitZone distributes the Elle Wet/Dry Lady Shaver (HLE30, RRP $69.95) and the Elle UV Nail Dryer (MPE58, RRP $129).
“With ever increasing focus around Health and Well Being, along with Beauty products Personal Care continues to be a very important part of the seasonal gift giving program,” said FitZone Solutions director Maria Russo.
“As always, it comes down to merchandising in store. This category needs to look inviting: clean stock, clearly ticketed with as much self-supporting information as possible to make it easy for consumers to purchase off the shelf.”