Beauty and Personal Care in Middle East and Africa

Delivery

This report comes in PPT.

Key findings

Natural products and ingredients in demand

As in many countries in the region, Egyptian consumers are increasingly looking for natural products, which are free from harsh artificial chemicals and, increasingly, contain organic ingredients. This is particularly the case in skin care, but is also becoming more evident across other categories, such as hair care, especially as the “skinification” trend evolves.

Hybrid products help stretch consumers’ budgets

With South African consumers suffering at the hands of the high inflation impacting much of the region, brands offering hybrid products were enjoying popularity. Hybrid products serve two different functions, eg having both skin care and colour cosmetics properties. For example, La Roche-Posay’s sun protection line also has a skin tint that gives a full foundation-like finish.

Pricing gap between mass and prestige products increasing

Recent years have seen a steady increase in the pricing gap between mass and prestige products in beauty and personal care in the United Arab Emirates from around 70% to 75-80%. This is being driven by rising disposable incomes among local consumers, who are increasingly willing to pay a premium for efficacious ingredients and unique formulations. Beauty brands are therefore expanding their high-end product offerings to cater for this growing demand.

E-commerce growing but still a relatively minor channel

E-commerce was growing its share of beauty and personal care retail sales over the review period, but still only accounts for less than 6% of the market. Grocery retailers like supermarkets, hypermarkets and small local grocers as well as health and beauty specialists dominate distribution, although department stores play quite a significant role in sales of products like fragrances or colour cosmetics in some countries.