Depilatories in Japan

PRE-COVID-19 PERFORMANCE

Japan’s ageing population continues to pose a threat to sales in 2019

Depilatories in Japan continued to decline in both retail volume and current value terms in 2019, driven in part by an ageing and declining population, as well as a fair degree of category maturity. Japan has seen a rapid ageing of its population and these demographic shifts are negatively impacting the demand for depilatories, as older women continue to show little interest in removing their body hair.

Depilatories facing increased competition from alternative products and services

Another significant threat to the further development of depilatories in Japan is the negative impact of the increasing number of hair removal alternatives. Amidst rising interest and awareness in beauty and personal grooming, the demand for hair removal alternatives, such as professional hair removal services and electric appliances, has been rapidly increasing.

Subscription-based services and customer reviews in focus in 2019

Schick Japan Co Ltd continued to lead depilatories in 2019 thanks to its strength in women’s pre-shave and women’s razors and blades. The company received a boost to sales following the launch of its subscription-based service SMARTSHAVE in January 2019.

2020 AND BEYOND

COVID-19 impact

Sales of depilatories are now expected to decline by 3% in 2020 in 2019 constant value terms in light of the impact of COVID-19. This compares to an expected 5% decline forecast for 2020 during research conducted at the end of 2019 before the spread of COVID-19.

Affected products within depilatories

All categories of depilatories appear to be receiving a similar impact from COVID-19 with any negative effects from home seclusion being cancelled out to an extent by the closure of beauty salons and the need for at-home treatments.

Recovery and opportunities

Depilatories remains on a downward trajectory with COVID-19 unlikely to have any significant influence over future sales, unless beauty salons see any further disruption. With an ageing population and a decline in the number of women it will be hard for manufacturers to sustain growth, although introducing products with added benefits such as skin moisturising could help to preserve sales to an extent.

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