Facial serum market rises, technology/effect/innovative form becomes a selling

In recent years, with the increase in consumer demand for skin care, the facial essence market has grown rapidly, showing trends such as increasing technological content, upgrading of efficacy, and product form innovation.

Monthly sales exceed 2 billion yuan

According to data from the Ali platform, in October this year, the sales of essential products on the Ali platform exceeded 2 billion yuan, and the sales volume exceeded 11 million.

In terms of sales, in October, the essence of products at all prices on the Ali platform was sold, but the overall price was mid-to-high-end products. The unit prices of mid-end products were concentrated in 400-600 yuan, and the unit price of high-end products exceeded 800 yuan.

In terms of product efficacy claims, moisturizing, hydrating, brightening skin tone, firming, and anti-wrinkle are the main claims, which are in line with the current consumer demand for essence to focus on basic care, and the trend of compounding more high-end effects.

There are many brands of facial essence and the market is highly competitive. In October of this year, the top 10 brands in facial essence sales on the Ali platform had a market share of only 28.5%, and the top 5 brands in sales had a market share of 19%. This shows that the market concentration of facial essence is low.

On the Ali platform, the top 10 brands in October sales are dominated by well-known international brands, and the top 5 brands are all international high-end cosmetics brands, such as Lancome, SK-Ⅱ, Clarins, etc., and their sales have increased rapidly year-on-year. The chain growth rate slowed down. For example, Lancome's sales increased by 145.3% year-on-year and -1.2% month-on-month; SK-Ⅱ sales increased by 98.4% year-on-year and -12.5% month-on-month.

Fortunately, the local brands Luxemburg and Quadi ranked among the top 10 facial essence sales rankings on Alibaba's platform in October, ranking 9th and 10th respectively, and their sales grew rapidly. Among them, luxury appearance sales exceeded 33 million yuan, an increase of 2294.6% from the previous month; Quandi sales exceeded 30 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1,2080.4%, and a month-on-month increase of 49.9%.

Three selling points of facial essence

In recent years, micro-ecological skin care has gradually become a hot spot in the market. Internationally renowned cosmetics brands are competing to develop and invest in probiotics and prebiotic-related skin care products. At the same time, certain high-efficiency essence products continue to sell well. In addition, with the rise of the "component party", concepts such as the combination of chemical components and natural components, and high-tech chemical components have emerged.

First, the frequency of use of microbial ingredients in skin care products has increased rapidly. The data shows that in 2019, the search volume of "microbiome" (microbiome) on Google increased by 110% year-on-year, and the market for the fiery tropical facial essence of the microbiome concept developed. Probiotics, prebiotics and other microbe-based cosmetic raw materials are becoming more and more popular. Products that advocate maintaining a healthy balance of body bacteria and achieving effective cleaning have attracted global market attention.

In recent years, international cosmetics brands have stepped up R&D investment in the field of micro-ecological skin care and launched related products. Unilever invested in Gallinée, a brand specializing in the study of human probiotic systems, to test the field of micro-ecological skin care, and its products are dedicated to improving skin problems such as acne and allergies. L'Oréal has developed supplementary raw materials based on microorganisms by studying skin flora, enzymes and intestinal flora, which have sun protection and cleansing effects.

Second, high-efficiency products such as whitening and anti-aging are selling hot. Whitening is the common pursuit of many Asian women, but with the change of health concepts, women's definitions and attitudes to whitening have changed. They no longer blindly pursue whiteness, but pay more attention to skin gloss and healthy appearance.

In response to new demands, cosmetics brands stepped up to launch corresponding products. For example, a vitamin C facial serum by Ole Henriksen Banana Bright, which contains 15% vitamin C, 5% PHA and hyaluronic acid, claims to have anti-aging, brightening complexion, hydrating and moisturizing effects; a facial serum by Goodhabit, It claims to contain antioxidant ingredients and adopts "BLU5" technology, which can not only brighten skin tone and reduce skin dullness, but also prevent skin aging caused by blue light on electronic screens.

Third, innovative product forms such as combination with tools are popular. Nowadays, consumers are no longer satisfied with the traditional essence of product forms, and innovative designs such as their own tools can catch consumers' attention even more. For example, the Glotrition SUPER BEAUTY SERUM essence with a "cooltouch" stainless steel roller applicator is welcomed by consumers.