Beauty, Hair, Spa, Skin - Chains in China 2008

Diagonal Reports Ltd.
September 1, 2008
SKU: DIAG1939660
License type:
Countries covered: China

The Chinese professional beauty market continues to grow strongly in double digits.

Chinese salon chains punch far above their weight. A handful of beauty salon chains account for more than a third of the professional hair and beauty market in the big coastal cities.

The beauty industry is the 5th largest consumer market in China, after real estate, automobile, electronics and travel. At current growth rates, it is estimated that the Chinese beauty market will overtake France, currently Europe’s biggest cosmetics market, by 2012 in value terms. China has the most salons of any country in the world. It has more than 1.5m salons compared to only 0.3m salons in the US.

In China as in every other market, independently owned salons account for almost all the professional beauty sector in unit terms. But it is the relatively few franchise chains which are the key players in the Chinese beauty market. According to Diagonal Reports recent research, the largest chains could, combined, account for more than a third of the professional beauty market in the megacities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

The top 5 chains alone operate almost 13,000 salons across China. But their importance has been under estimated due to the fragmentation of the market and because there are no counterparts to the Chinese salon chain system elsewhere in the world. These big chains, with a few exceptions, are Chinese owned and operated.

Key features of Chinese chain salon:
  • Size (larger than average in terms of staff numbers and m2)
  • Profitability
  • Professionalism (with professionally trained staff)
  • Compliance (with regulations)
Chains have accumulated extensive market experience. They have customised development plans for different regional markets and consumer segments. The chains do not have a “one size fits all.” strategy.

Salon chains are developing the salon industry and, indeed, wider beauty services market in China. They are the most important service providers to the key consumer segment, the trend setting, young urban, male and female consumers. These consumers, serve to further extend chains’ influence across China.

Salon chains are in a strong position to grow not just their share of the salon services market but also of the beauty products market in China, in particular the quality segment. Their market share will increase as these chains will be the main beneficiaries of market growth and of the ongoing quality upgrade of the cosmetics market.

As in other Asian markets, the salon membership system is an important feature of this sector in China. In some salons over half of clients are members which means they pay in advance for beauty and hair services. Salons benefit from this guaranteed revenue flow. The in-depth knowledge they have of their member clients' visits and service usage patterns allows them to target consumers, services and products more efficiently, advance plan and make more money.

Chinese beauty salons/spas tend to offer a wider range of services than their counterparts in the USA and Europe. These menus indicate a culturally specific concept of beauty.

Hair salon menus include
  • Hair services (cut, style, colour, perm, straighten)
  • Limited beauty services (typically face skin care)
  • Product retail
Beauty salons menus include
  • Face and skin care
  • Spa (body massage)
  • Full (TCM - Traditional Chinese Medicine) therapies
  • Body shaping, firming and weight-control
  • Other (e.g. cosmetic laser)
  • Product retail
Almost every one of the big salon chains in China uses their own label products for in salon usage and in-salon retail. Salons prefer own label hair and skincare products for many reasons. They grow revenues, help salons to guarantee quality control, reduce risk of counterfeits, build client loyalty, and they create an entry barrier for competitors. A major feature of chains product marketing is the brands used were specially formulated for Chinese consumers, often by Chinese companies.

Experts consulted by Diagonal Reports are extremely confident about the future of the salon market. Strong market fundamentals - economics, demographics, social attitudes and lifestyle changes - will continue to drive growth rates of up to 15% each year.

This new report, Largest Hair Salon and Beauty Salon - Spa - Chains China 2008, focuses on the largest salon chains in China which hold the key to the Chinese professional beauty market and the quality skin and hair care product market.

This country report is based on an analysis of in-depth discussions with leading Chinese salon chains conducted in May -July 2008. The sample size is representative of the largest Chinese beauty salons which operate 10,000 salons across China and generate 17 millions salon visits weekly

This 08 report also compares and contrasts data from previous (01, 03, 07) Chinese professional beauty market reports.


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