Report: Black hair care products positioned to enjoy good growth

By Staff Writer
CosmeticDesign.com
(November 26, 2005) According to a report by the market research firm, Mintel International Group, the black hair care market increased by 13 percent from 1999 to 2004, a factor not unconnected to the black population increase.

“Hair care products are essential items, a factor that, with correct targeting, can tie growth of the market to population growth,” said the report, which analyzed data from sales reported by research firm, IRI.

The 38 million blacks in the US currently account for just under 13 percent of the nation's population, and the black population is estimated to grow by 13 percent from 2000 to 2010.

According to the report, shampoos and conditioners were the only items in the black hair care sector to experience increased sales in supermarket and drug store retail channels, increasing by 11 percent from $42.5 million in 2002 to $47 million in 2004.

The strong sales were in large due to the 2003 introduction of Procter & Gamble's (P&G) Pantene Pro-V Relaxed & Natural shampoos and conditioners, which accounted for 20 percent of the segment sales in 2004.

And because this retail channel is the most popular outlet for such products, this gives a good indication of the overall black shampoo segment, said the report.

This is not the same for other black hair care products, where 90 percent of sales are through channels other than supermarkets and drugstores. Indeed, Mintel suggests that manufacturers may be losing out by not making products for black men more available through FDM (Food, Drug and Mass Merchandiser) channels.

According to Mintel, “46 percent of black women say they only buy products specifically for black hair, compared to only 36 percent of black men. Part of the reason may be that men are less likely to shop in a beauty supply or specialty store, and are more apt to make hair purchases through FDM, where black-specific items are generally less available.”

“However, by not directing more products, and marketing, to black men, especially through FDM channels, companies may be missing an opportunity to capture black male consumers.”

Indeed, it was not until the late 1990s that large cosmetics companies started to expand into the Black hair care market. In 1998, beauty products giant L'Oréal acquired black hair care company Soft Sheen, which it later merged with a further acquisition, Carson, into its SoftSheen-Carson division.

In 2003 the company also opened a multi-million dollar research and development laboratory in Chicago, called the L'Oreal Institute for Ethnic Hair and Skin Research, which claims to be the first lab focusing specifically on the beauty needs of people of color.


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