CC Cosmetics & Toiletries in China 2010: A Market Analysis

Additional Information

Executive Summary

The total cosmetics and toiletries market in China reached a total value of RMB133.24bn (US$19.51bn) in 2009. This value was 11.4% up on the previous year, indicating continuing strong market growth, despite a slowdown in the economy since 2008, and a full 157.73% up on 2003, and annual growth averaging 14.48%.

Cosmetics and toiletries have declined slightly in significance to 3.37% of total value non-food retail sales by 2009, down from 3.54% in 2003, and a high of 3.93% in 2006. Cosmetics and toiletries continue to increase steadily in value, but other sectors of the non-food economy are now making much stronger growth. This despite a rise up the value-added ladder in urban sales, although the lower-price end mass market cosmetics and toiletries products achieved much more considerable reach across more of China in recent years.

The overall cosmetics and toiletries market is expected to continue to see strong growth over the next few years fuelled by continued strong growth in the consumer market in China. Anticipated annual growth will slow down year-on-year, but remains good. The total value of the market could reach as much as RMB206bn by 2014, up on a forecast RMB146bn in 2010.

However, this estimate for market value in 2010 does not include online C2C and B2C sales, an area of weak coverage due to it largely being conducted as grey (non-taxed) income by private individuals acting as sole-trader companies. This grey online market is estimated to be worth about RMB19bn in 2010, ON TOP of the total retail market estimate of RMB146bn.

The main urban centres are increasingly congested in terms of market penetration, so emphasis is shifting to the mass markets opening up in tier-2 and -3 cities, which is forcing the industry to work out ways to reach these regional markets logistically, and to adapt product to suit regional variation in taste and income differences.

Most foreign companies are succeeding in the market by adapting their brands so that they seem local to consumers, and begin to act like local domestic manufacturers in their business plans in China, rather than as foreign companies in China. This requires a lot more ground knowledge and use of local talent then was the case before.

Foreign companies are increasingly looking to strong domestic brands as potential acquisition targets, especially in developing new ranges of products best suited to emerging regional markets.

Retailers are increasingly coming to control the means of distribution in the market, and as such, any new developments in the private label by significant chains is going to have a sizeable impact on the future direction of the cosmetics and toiletries market.