Colour Cosmetics in Costa Rica

PROSPECTS

Golden, bright and matte tones along with point-of-sale displays set the pace during 2017

As the range of products within colour cosmetics in Costa Rica continued increasing, major players looked for different ways to gain the interest of local women, often leveraging on bright and colourful point-of-sale displays that gave a direct and simple message to potential buyers. These products’ marketing banners, packaging and shelf designs were aligned under the same visual principle, which aimed to have a direct impact by leveraging on awareness of global brands (such as the cases of L’Oréal, Cover Girl and Revlon).

Product innovation continues to leverage on easier application, convenience and visual impact

Given the rising number of brands available within colour cosmetics in Costa Rica, the most prominent continued to adopt various marketing strategies to differentiate from less-traditional and more-affordable options, opting to focus on easier-to-use products that lasted longer but were still easy to remove when needed. The promise is often based on getting professional results at home, based on easy-to-apply products that dry quickly and can even provide appealing designs (as in the case of nail polishes), or in higher-quality formulations that provide more-dramatic and longer-lasting effects (as seen in mascaras and lipsticks).

New opportunities for further specialisation and the promotion of ecological and ethical products over the forecast period

The rising emergence of specialised product lines, such as within nail products, is set to continue over the forecast period, particularly in the case of facial make-up that features different functional benefits associated with facial skin care, such as anti-ageing, anti-wrinkle and deeper moisturising. In this context, there is expected to be a growing relevance of claims in relation to environmentally friendly and ethical products, boosting the popularity of more-natural colour cosmetics targeted at higher-income millennials.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Traditional players continue to lead

Benefiting from strong brand recognition and point-of-sale availability, major local distributors such as Mercorica (Revlon, Cover Girl and Max Factor) and Cefa Corporación (L’Oréal and Maybelline) continued to set the pace within modern grocery retailers and department stores. Modern retail channels continued to avoid the introduction of lower-priced brands due to the potential negative effect on overall spending by the average customer (mid- and higher-income), while allowing additional competition from more-specialised products, such as in the case of Incoco and Sally Hansen.

New products continue to emerge

In spite of the strong positions of brands from leading players within colour cosmetics, new products continued to emerge and used specialisation, availability and affordability as key selling points to reach a wide base of potential customers. Brands such as Incoco adopted a clear specialisation strategy to target the same consumers that make purchases in modern grocery channels, using a combination of new product formats (such as dry polishes and nail art designs) as well as novel application concepts based on positive self-indulgent experiences, including the promotion of its nail bars in popular local shopping centres.

New sales opportunities to appear within emerging channels, while more-indulgent consumption experiences set to become available

Over the forecast period, it is anticipated that demand for colour cosmetics will be boosted by the increasing relevance of digital sales platforms to the expanding base of mid- and high-income millennials, who are already familiar with internet retailing dynamics. Besides being capable of selling their products directly to consumers (such as in the case of Incoco), the possibility of providing beauty tips and application guides to their consumers together with support from digital influencers will help to boost such sales.

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