Personal care and grooming products: the next big thing in online subscription services
We’ve had streaming and meal boxes, now it’s time for grooming boxes
The online subscription market is big business and is only set to get bigger. From streaming offerings such as Spotify, Netflix and Audible, to subscription box products like Graze, Hello Fresh and BirchBox, almost every possible consumer category is covered by this rapidly growing market.
But what is set to be the next big thing? Well, according to new Streetbees research, featured in The Grocer this October, the personal care and grooming sector is tipped to experience dynamic growth.
The UK is ready for home-delivered personal care
After speaking to over 4,000 users — our bees — worldwide, we found that opportunity is ripe particularly among British consumers. For starters, almost 1 in 2 (47%) say they already subscribe to some sort of online subscription service.
While just 14% are currently signed up to a personal care or grooming service, 3 in 4 (73%) say they would consider subscribing to one in the future.
Hair and skin important to Brits
For Brits considering a personal care subscription, 1 in 3 (33%) would be interested in having hair products delivered to their door. This was the most popular category, ahead of vitamins and minerals (29%) and bathing products (27%).
Among those that already are signed up to a service, skincare (10%) is the most popular category, followed by hair removal (9%) and then hair products (7%).
What does this mean for brands?
As with any product offering, listening to what the consumer wants is vital. In terms of consumer behaviour, we learnt two key things from our British bees.
When looking into personal care subscriptions, British consumers far prefer online research to a recommendation from a friend or family member. Almost 7 in 10 respondents (68%) say they use the internet to inform themselves, while 48% say they use social media. Just 38% cited friends or family.
For the majority of Brits, the ideal personal care subscription incorporates the following: a product range that is based on consumer preferences; deliveries at frequent intervals set by the consumer; and is offered by a large-scale, well-known brand.
The market is there, but which brand will be the first to grant the personal care consumer what they want?
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A quick word on our methodology: The figures in the article are taken from Streetbees community members in UK, US, India, Kenya, the Philippines and South Africa, carried out in September 2018. All of the data was collected by mobile and web surveys, and is accurate to within 4 percentage points 19 times out of 20.
