New trends in sunscreen products: functional segmentation, multi-form

According to the Ministry of Commerce, during the golden week of the Spring Festival in 2021, sunscreen products have entered a hot sales period, with a transaction increase of 66.76%. Subdivided into sunscreen and sunscreen spray, they also achieved a transaction increase of 58.51% and 27.17% respectively.

In recent years, Chinese consumers' awareness of sun protection has risen rapidly, and the development of consumption habits has brought huge market space. Data shows that sun protection is becoming one of the fastest growing categories in the cosmetics market and will continue to maintain this momentum in the next two years.

So, under the huge market potential, what is the trend of the sunscreen market and where are the opportunities hidden? The following content may be inspiring.

The high-potential Chinese sunscreen market is in the early stages of development, with Chinese, Japanese, and Korean brands taking the lead

According to the report "Decoding the New Sun Protection Era for Chinese Consumers", sun protection products are still in the early stages of development in the Chinese market. Compared with other countries, the penetration rate of sunscreen products in China was only 16% in 2019, and that of South Korea, which belongs to Asia, was 57%. France and the United Kingdom in Europe and the United States were 28% and 31% respectively. In 2019, the overall penetration rate of Chinese beauty cosmetics was as high as 76%. %, the sunscreen category is only a quarter of it.

At the same time, the development trend of sunscreen category cannot be ignored. According to data, in 2019, the sales scale of Taobao and Tmall sunscreen products is about 5.886 billion yuan. By 2020, the sales scale of Taobao and Tmall sunscreen products has increased to 7.677 billion yuan, an increase of about 30%. The development of the sunscreen market has entered Fast lane.

With this high-growth market development momentum, China's sunscreen market is dominated by brands from China, Japan, and South Korea. According to data, from January 2019 to October 2020, brand sunscreen products from China, Japan, and South Korea accounted for 72% of the sunscreen market’s Amoy e-commerce transaction volume. Among them, Japanese sunscreen products occupy the first place with 34%, Shiseido, An Brands such as Resha, Narisi, Biore, etc. are all best-selling sunscreens in the market.

However, with the instillation of sunscreen awareness and the development of sunscreen habits, the Chinese sunscreen market is bound to expand day by day. More and more overseas brands will enter the Chinese sunscreen market and squeeze the market share. In recent years, the Spanish sunscreen brand Isdin has emerged. Is an example. At the same time, the market's demand for overseas sunscreen brands is gradually increasing. According to the new makeup platform, many agents have consulted imported sunscreen brands.

Subdivision of efficacy, no dead ends, sun protection, "poke in" consumer psychology

In the context of global consumption upgrades, consumer demand continues to advance, and the single sunscreen effect of sunscreen products has been unable to meet user needs. It can be found from the report "Decoding the New Sun Protection Era for Chinese Consumers" released by Tmall International and Kantar Consumer Index. , The demand for sunscreen segments of domestic consumers continues to emerge, and the sunscreen segments such as anti-blue light, anti-aging, and anti-pollution have increased significantly.

According to Alibaba’s big data, from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020, among the top 10 claims of sunscreen products, sunscreen claims ranked first with 60.73 million+, and the higher the SPF, the more popular it is. SPF50 and PA+++ products are the "optimal solution" for most consumers.

At the same time, behind the superficial demand for sun protection, anti-aging is the ultimate goal of consumers. It is reported that only 20% of skin aging comes from natural aging, and the remaining 80% comes from photo-aging. Sun protection and anti-aging are essential. .

The harmful blue light brought by electronic equipment and the damage to the skin caused by environmental pollution have made new concepts such as anti-blue light and anti-pollution growing. It is worth mentioning that at the end of 2019, the State Administration of Standards issued a standard "Light Health and Light Safety Application Technology of Blue Light Protective Film", which came into effect on July 1, 2020. The development space of anti-blue light sunscreen products will be Further standardize and expand.

In addition, the traditional concept of sunscreen on the face has gradually been upgraded to the need for sunscreen for the whole body. Under the need to upgrade, there are also special sunscreen products for hair, lips, eyes and other parts, such as Estee Lauder's soft sunscreen lip balm, Supergoop scalp sunscreen spray Poof Part Powder SPF 45, etc. On the other hand, some brands choose to develop full-body sunscreen products to meet users' all-round sun protection needs.

Sun protection tends to be multi-form, decoding multi-scene needs

In the high-growth track of sunscreen, at the level of product form, in addition to conventional sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen spray, sunscreen stick, sunscreen mousse, sunscreen brush, sunscreen cushion and other innovative forms are also constantly emerging, and diversified sunscreen The form meets the needs of consumers in a variety of scenarios.

It can be seen from the data that the traditional form of sunscreen is still the mainstream demand in the market. Sunscreen accounted for up to 82% of the e-commerce sales of sunscreen products in 2020, an increase of 20% year-on-year, followed by sunscreen spray, which accounted for 14.1% of sales. Its convenient and refreshing features make it Win a place in the sunscreen market.

In terms of consumers' willingness to purchase new forms of sunscreen, the data of Xiaohongshu, a platform for planting grass, is of reference significance. On the Xiaohongshu APP, a search using "sunscreen cream" as a keyword showed 620,000+ notes, and a search for new forms of sunscreen such as "sun spray", "sun stick", and "sun brush" showed 200,000+ notes. , 100,000+, 70,000+ notes; it can be found that new forms of sunscreen products are taking the sunscreen demand in multiple scenarios as a breakthrough point to open up a new situation in the sunscreen market.

For example, to continue the popularity of stick products in the beauty market, develop sunscreen sticks that are easy to use, leak-proof and compact and portable; sunscreen droppers can be combined with moisturizers to achieve the effect of protection and protection; sunscreen Brush, apply sunscreen ingredients on the face through powder brush/puff, it is a convenient form of supplementary sunscreen...

The online selection is more abundant, and the cost-effective sunscreen is "good"

According to the report "Decoding the New Sun Protection Era for Chinese Consumers", the growth rate of the amount of online sunscreen products purchased in 2019 is much higher than the offline growth rate, which is 10 times the offline growth rate, and the number of new sunscreen products online The increase is twice as much as offline. Undoubtedly, online channels are the main front for driving the growth of sunscreen products.

On the other hand, most overseas brands prefer e-commerce platforms to enter the Chinese market. For example, in March 2020, a group of overseas sunscreen brands such as ISDIN, Neutrogena, and Mistine collectively released new products through Tmall International. In 2020, Tmall International will introduce about 20 imports. New sunscreen brands and online sunscreen brands are becoming more diversified.

Based on this, focusing on the main online channels, reporters can find that in the price range of sunscreen products, the sunscreen category of the Taoist e-commerce platform has the largest sales share of 70-100 yuan, and the market can be tapped. At the level of market share, Products below one hundred yuan accounted for 66% of the sunscreen market share. More consumers tended to cost-effective products, and the high-end demand market only occupies a small portion.

But at the same time, as the consumption level of Chinese residents continues to improve, residents' consumption habits are also upgraded accordingly. The weight of price in the decision-making of sunscreen products will gradually weaken, and the importance of product efficacy and consumer experience will become more prominent. The potential of the high-end sunscreen market will continue to expand.

Summary: As far as the current market trend is concerned, as consumers' awareness of sun protection continues to increase, and hot spots for sun protection consumption continue to emerge, the sun protection market has become a battleground for military strategists and has great potential to be tapped.

Focusing on the need for sunscreen efficacy, Western consumers are more inclined to sunburn and anti-aging, and are keen on tanning; while in the Chinese market, sunscreen black is the main focus of efficacy, which can meet sunscreen black, anti-aging, anti-blue light, etc. The demand for multi-effect sunscreen is more willing to buy.

From the perspective of sunscreen technology, sunscreen products originated in Europe, and their technical level naturally has a certain first-mover advantage, but most of them have poor skin feel; followed by China, both of which are similar in regulations and monitoring standards, with the only difference It is slightly less than Europe in terms of approved sunscreens.

In order to respond to the needs of consumers in multiple scenarios, the brand has also developed a variety of new forms and functional characteristics of sunscreen, such as outdoor sports water-proof, sweat-proof and sunscreen, portable sunscreen, supplementary sunscreen after applying makeup, and anti+protective skin care. Type sunscreens are popular sunscreens; among them, portable sunscreens receive the most attention and are the fastest-growing new forms of sunscreens.

In summary, focusing on consumer demand points, high-efficiency sun protection and price are no longer decisive factors affecting consumer decision-making. Multi-functionality, comfort experience, and multi-scene needs have all ranked first in the sun protection demand. Advanced sun protection demand is bound to Affect the general direction of the market.

Starting in 2021, as the temperature rises, the sunscreen category has ushered in a "love period", and a new round of sunscreen warfare is beginning to appear. How to grasp the sunscreen consumption trend may be a key chess piece to seize the initiative.