Deodorants in the United Kingdom

PRE-COVID-19 PERFORMANCE

Natural deodorants freshen up the category, as consumers use deodorants less often but want more from them

Deodorant sprays continue to dominate the category, remaining the most popular format by far, followed by deodorant roll-ons, largely due to these formats offering more convenience, wider availability and greater brand variety. While value sales and unit prices rose in 2019, all categories besides the small creams and pumps formats saw volume sales decline in 2019 as a result of consumers using deodorant more infrequently.

On-the-go lifestyles raise the need for convenience

As UK consumers live healthier and busier lifestyles, often going straight from work to the gym, the need for convenience and deodorant on the go becomes greater. While deodorant wipes continue to see a strong decline in sales as wet wipes become synonymous with a bad environmental impact, 2019 saw Unilever’s launch of deodorant wipes and travel-sized sprays under its key brands in an effort to meet this need for convenience.

Multinationals lose out on sales to smaller players, so that major brands get innovative and aluminium-free

Unilever continues to dominate deodorants with its key brands Lynx, Sure and Dove, accounting for half of the category’s value sales. However, all three of Unilever’s leading brands saw their value share and sales decline in 2019, as did Beiersdorf’s Nivea brand, as the traditionally strongly-performing brands are faced with further fragmentation as newer and more premium brands enter the category.

2020 AND BEYOND

COVID-19 impact

Sales of deodorants are expected to grow by less than 1% in 2020 at constant 2019 prices, which will be slightly slower than the growth figure of just over 1% forecast for 2020 during research conducted at the end of 2019 before the spread of COVID-19. While there was an initial surge in the buying of deodorants in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, demand then quickly returned to normal levels.

Affected products within deodorants

There will be little change in performances in deodorants in 2020, with all formats recording modest growth at constant 2019 prices, with the exception of deodorant wipes, which will continue to record a strong decline. Even if people are generally leaving their homes a lot less in 2020 than in normal times, they will still buy deodorants, and, given these products are relatively low-priced, for example in comparison to fragrances, economic problems should not significantly affect their sales.

Recovery and opportunities

The performance by deodorants in 2020 will be followed by similarly modest annual growth rates at constant 2019 prices over the rest of the forecast period. The products will enjoy consistent demand in the coming years, relatively unaffected by any economic recession and subsequent rebounds in the local economy.

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