The dynamics of the natural personal care market are impressive, attracting more and more players that want to profit from the lucrative opportunities this market offers. Over time, Kline has identified several factors that have been influencing and driving this prosperous market. Agnieszka Saintemarie, Project Manager for the consulting and research firm, looks at the top three drivers in recent years.
Consumer awareness
Having greater access to information, mostly due to the Internet and social media, consumers are continuously and increasingly moving towards a greener lifestyle, making choices to minimize their contact with potential toxins. They are well informed about the potential harm that some ingredients could possibly do to their bodies and the benefits of using natural ingredients. Consumers are also seeking full transparency from cosmetics companies on their sourcing methods, production, ingredients, and overall sustainability practices.
In response to this increasing demand, marketers have been reformulating with a higher proportion of truly natural ingredients in their products. The continued shift towards the truly natural segment was one of the strongest trends on the market in recent years, with several brands, such as Avalon Organics, JĀSÖN, Korres, and Logona, whose ratings are tracked in the Kline’s Natural Personal Care Global Series report, moving upwards in 2014.
Distribution channel expansion
Although the channel mix varies from one region to another—for example, in Germany, drug stores are by far the largest distribution channel, whereas the health and natural food store channel prevails in the United States—globally, the trend has been towards marketers not only strengthening their position in these traditional channels, but …