How the Organic Skincare Market is Rebounding from the Covid-19 Pandemic
By Uma Sooran
Similar to all markets, the beauty industry suffered as a result of quarantine and as a result of being able to purchase goods in person. The beauty industry also suffered as a result of people not needing makeup products because they were not going out. However, the beauty industry is more than just makeup, and the skincare markets thrived during this time. According to this study by Daxue Consulting, people in China who have fully finished quarantine have been using more skincare products than makeup.
The beauty industry is historically known for recovering from crises very well. In 2001, there was a lipstick index after an economic recession, meaning that consumers were buying cheap lipsticks because it was an affordable luxury. In 2020, there’s a “nail polish index” because it is a new affordable luxury that also helps consumers take care of themselves. This is an example of how taking care of one’s self is a common growing interest this is keeping the beauty industry in a smaller economic loss than other industries, including travel and tourism. For this reason, the beauty industry is expected to make a full recovery by Spring 2022, and is only expected to have a total recession of 20–35%.
The natural beauty market has been constantly growing since it first came into the public eye because consumers are always looking for the best way to take care of themselves. In a non-COVID-19 world, consumers have less time to take care of themselves because of commitments with friends, family, and work. However, during the pandemic, studies show that consumers have been interested in making themselves feel better rather than looking better while being stuck in quarantine. This addresses two major issues with the pandemic. Consumers are willing to do all kinds of natural skin care remedies because of the increased focus on staying healthy to avoid contracting COVID-19. Since skincare makes people feel better, it has helped the mental health of many across the world; there is such a need for more resources when people can’t see their friends and loved ones. Organic skincare in particular grew because it is cleaner than the average beauty product. In a world that feels like it collapses all the time, with problems beyond the pandemic including natural disasters, violence, and murder hornets, consumers are more likely to choose an organic product because it is something small that can make a big difference.
However, consumers have to choose which is more important to them: cleanliness or price. While in quarantine, a trend revitalized itself and became the biggest competitor for organic skincare: Do-It-Yourself beauty. With the help of the Internet, consumers can find out how to make a face mask, how to cut their hair, how to make nail polish, and more. These all ended up taking away some profit from the organic skincare market, as it was easier to do. Consumers did not have to leave their house, and they did not have to spend any money during an economic recession. It is harder to find a DIY product that is also organic, so consumers had to make a choice. The best companies managed to provide consumers with written or video tutorials to help them use a beauty product at home. For example. L’oréal has a section on their website that helps consumers find the best skincare products, similar to an in-store consultant. This is an extra step company can take to earn more profit in a fully digital world.
In August, our country is finally starting to open up — with some complications. Other countries, like China, have been open for a while, and have successfully reopened the in-person business. However, China normally has people with different interests than in America, and the skincare market has a higher value/capita normally in China than in America. Based on Chinese trends, as the world opens up, consumers will start to choose quality over quantity for the best results for their skin whenever possible. In the long run, this provides a huge disadvantage to smaller companies that are not organic because they are worse quality than competitors that are. Consumers will also look for health benefits when choosing skincare products- an attractive product will feature key ingredients that boost immunity to prevalent diseases in that nation. In the United States, Consumers are likely to follow similar trends. Keywords that consumers are looking for include “moisturize,” “vitamins,” and “sanitize” so that consumers know they are choosing products that will keep them feeling their best during this pandemic. Online marketers should recognize that consumers are valuing “performance,” and “price-value/money,” with the current economic crisis — more in the United States than in other countries. United States consumers are also focused on mask acne-and they will definitely be focused on finding skincare products to prevent that.
