Premium beauty and personal care was already struggling more than mass due to recession in the country, but COVID-19 made the situation worse due to lockdown restrictions, job losses and an overall sense of insecurity in the market. Low consumer confidence meant that people were more cautious about their spending, and this was particularly true for aspirational consumers, who were already purchasing premium beauty and personal care products on credit.
During lockdown, beauty categories were seen as non-essential and their sales were restricted. However, as soon as lockdown restrictions started easing and sales were allowed again, consumers started purchasing these brands to replace products that they ran out of during lockdown.
Convenience is key in influencing the route to purchase. The fear of COVID-19 and consumers in general avoiding crowded places led to them to choose more convenient options to purchase products.
Premium categories will be the last to recover from the impact of COVID-19, as consumers will continue to be influenced by challenging economic conditions and low consumer confidence. Businesses are closing down and more people are losing their jobs.
Wealthy Africans are an important customer base for premium beauty and personal care. Border closures at the beginning of COVID-19 and international restrictions imposed on travel to South Africa after the discovery of the South African variant also hit the category further.
Sales of absolute luxury brands, which are driven mostly by upper-income consumers, have proven to be relatively more resilient than aspirational luxury brands, which have been hardest hit by declining disposable incomes and changing spending patterns. It is expected that over the forecast period absolute luxury brands will remain resilient due to their target market not being as impacted by the financial fallout from COVID-19.
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Understand the latest market trends and future growth opportunities for the Premium Beauty and Personal Care industry in South Africa with research from Euromonitor International's team of in-country analysts – experts by industry and geographic specialisation.
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This report originates from Passport, our Premium Beauty and Personal Care research and analysis database.
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