Cotton Wool/Buds/Pads in Finland

TRENDS

Private label products further strengthened their position in 2014. The fact that the number of beauty specialist retailers is low in Finland favoured large retailers’ position in sales of cotton wool/buds/pads. Although maturing, new added-value launches helped private label products to gain share. New products included launches such as S Group’s Rainbow cotton buds packaged in a smaller presentation suitable for use when travelling. In addition, economic instability affected consumers’ purchasing decisions. Private label products such as Rainbow by S Group and Pirkka by Kesko Oyj were considered good value with high standards. The fact that Pirkka, for example, offered fair trade cotton products contributed to the good image of private label products. In a category where branded labels did not offer any specific added value or more advanced products, private label demand was stable in good times, and increased with the slumping economy.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Domestic private label player S Group led cotton wool/buds/pads, accounting for 33% of value sales in 2014. This was a share one point higher than in 2013, thanks to the launch of a smaller cotton bud pack in the spring of 2014. The company had two private label ranges – Rainbow and X-Tra – which accounted for retail value shares of 26% and 7% respectively in 2014.

PROSPECTS

The cotton wool/buds/pads category is expected to grow by a modest 1% in constant value terms over the forecast period. Both maturity and private label competition will affect value growth. In addition, the first years of the forecast period will remain economically unstable, further constraining growth possibilities. There are also an increasing number of products that can be utilised interchangeably available in categories such as wipes. This is especially true in the case of cotton pads and cotton wool. When the economy improves consumers are likely to more often opt for convenient make-up removal wipes. Other popular innovative products cannibalising sales of cotton pads is express nail polish removal, which makes use of cotton pads redundant.

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