Bath and Shower in Costa Rica

PROSPECTS

Value for money products continue to emerge alongside added-value alternatives

As the increasing offer of imported brands continues to intensify competition within bath and shower in Costa Rica, a broader base of value for money products (including the ongoing expansion of Walmart’s private label line Equate) continued to compete for purchases from mid-income consumers. Such products competed based on availability, price and the promotion of appealing functional ingredients.

Appealing packaging, convenience and multiple performance claims set the pace

The number of brands, including quality options, continued to increase rapidly within bath and shower in Costa Rica during 2017, as products became more complex and specific amid rising specialisation and segmentation from major players. In this context, there were more-specialised body washes and shower gels targeted at particular consumer groups (such as men), which proved a successful strategy in the further development of more-affordable presentations, such as in bar soaps.

Additional segmentation and further promotion of natural formulations expected over the forecast period

As the rising number of bath and shower brands tries to differentiate from the wide range of options available to consumers, lines capable of targeting mid/higher-income local consumers are expected to increase their focus on the further development of more-natural formulations. Major players are anticipated to continue leveraging on providing a more-positive perception with regard to the performance of such products based on personal and environmental benefits.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Traditional international players remain ahead in value terms

International manufacturers Colgate-Palmolive and Unilever de Centroamérica continued to dominate bath and shower in Costa Rica in 2017. These international players continued to take advantage of their developed economies of scale, leveraging on their dominant positions within multiple beauty and personal care categories.

Less-traditional players, including local companies and private label, continue to gain shelf space

Despite the strong dominance of major international players within bath and shower, a rising base of local companies continued to promote innovations based on the use of natural ingredients. Such players made many performance claims for their products, such as in the case of the local player Bioland, which continued to launch value-added alternatives based on vegetable-based soap and the use of natural botanical extracts with functional features, such as in the case of its antibacterial bar and liquid soap based on tea tree extract.

Economies of scale regarding logistics and also value packs are anticipated to lead sales over the forecast period

As the offers of major players continue to become more similar in terms of gender/age segmentation and the rising use of popular natural ingredients to improve the value perception of bath and shower products, major manufacturers are anticipated to become more aggressive in terms of pricing and availability. They will opt to boost the value perception of their main brands through the further use of value packs and promotional campaigns.

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