The Face Wash segment is quite special in the skincare market as it contains several heterogeneous products that all answer to the same need: "Having a clean skin". Consequently, from make-up remover to wipes, from tonic lotions to thermal water sprays, let's go deeper into that segment:
Key Figures:
204 million € turnover in France (2010) - (Value: -1,7% - Volume: -0,1%)
53% is the penetration rate for face wash products in France.
38% of women buying cleaning wipes use them daily.
Water-free cleansing products (like make-up removers) are the 1st segment of the face wash market.
If you add wipes and others cleansing products (specialists for eyes; gels), you cover 75% of the market. The last 25% is composed of secondary face wash articles (scouring, thermal waters etc)
(Nielsen CAM April 2008)
This market contains products to which consumer's involvment is quite low compared to anti-age or moisturizing. Consequently, private labels' market share is high: Private labels are #1 in volume and #2 in value (behind NIVEA) especially regarding wipes or make-up removers while other segments like tonic lotions, cleansing gel or scouring are more dominated by national brands.
You can find below a screenshot of an internet forum where a consumer asks about Carrefour's private label quality: you can clearly see why consumers are buying these kind of products...
Successful private labels in the cosmetics industry
Despite the current crisis, private labels are on the roll. In fact ditributors take advantage of them to renew and enlarge their offer.
Alsp as a reaction to the decline of the purchasing power, retailer enlarged the shelf space of their own brands.
The result is that nowadays the market share of private labels for the face wash products is close to 15% and are ranked just behind Nivea (in terms of value) on the second place of the podium. The forecast for this segment is pretty positive as experts foretell an increase of 1,9% for the next year.
But in the beauty industry, buying private labels can have a negative connotation for consumers. However, sales indicate that for this particular segment the low-cost is preferred to the higher-priced range. "Before, the customers were hesitating to buy private labels on this category of product. But what we see is that they are more and more seduced by these products and the purchasing rates increase", notices Olivier Fontaine, an Intermarché representative, responsible for the marketing of Intermarché's own brands. In fact quality products at prices at 20 or 50% lower regarding to the national brands is pretty attractive.
L'Oréal - A high priced brand in a low priced market...
Face wash has an important role in the health and beauty of skin. Especially make-up removers are essential to clean the skin of make-up and impurities that have built up during the day. This is followed by face washing products to clean the skin of every external influence and let it “breathe again”. In this context, the tolerance of skin has to be taken into account. Sensitive skin in particular shouldn’t be exposed to more aggressive face washing products including alcohol in order to prevent skin irritation.
L’Oréal has developed the “Triple active Re-nourish” cleansing product range especially for dry and sensitive skin. These products clean the skin from external impurities and make-up while smoothing and comforting it in order to prevent any irritation.
In general there are three different product types which can be used in this category:
Cleansing toner (cleaning effectively)
Cleansing milk (cleaning and hydrating)
Cleansing wipes (efficient cleaning with wipes)
L’Oréal here only comes in sixth with a market share in value of 11%. L’Oréal is too expensive for this segment and cannot compete with NIVEA and private labels offering cheaper products with good quality. Thus, L’Oréal focuses on product innovation developing product value with extraordinary features. On example in this context is the range “Perfect Clean”:
This deep pore cleansing product comes with a little soft brush called “Scrublet” which helps to clean and massage the skin at once. This combination of brush and foaming gel is used to gently remove dirt, oil and make-up in a stimulating and soothing way to leave a clean, calm skin. The range contains several washing gels such as “Soothing” (Dry skin), “Exfoliating”, “Purifying” (Prone skin) and “Refreshing” (normal skin) for the different skin types and their needs.
Moreover, L’Oréal as the market leader of the anti-age segment also developed a broad range of cleansing products for the different phases of mature skin. Brands such as “Revitalift” for women over 40 and “Age Perfect” for women over 50 offer a special range of cleansing products to reinforce the effects of the according anti-age products.
Barbara Gould - A major actor in this fast growing market.
Barbara Gould is a cosmetic brand created by Les Laboratoires Santé Beauté. The brand is evolving in a highly competitive environment led by private labels. But it made its mark due to a wide range of face washing products at an affordable price that you can nowadays find in the biggest retailer stores. Here are some goods that made Barbara Gould's success and reputation.
A TV commercial was launched a few years ago and it was part of the widely spread advertising campaign "Des femmes que l'on oublie pas". The purpose of this campaign was to show that users of Barbara Gould products would feel well and sexy in their body even in an active environment. The ad did not focus on the skin effect of the face washing products but more on the overall effect of well-being.
(French Add, 2008)
Other active brands
Mixa : Number 1 brand for organic face cleaning products. More than 99% of the components are natural and stand for the success of these articles. The company's market share is close to 31% in the organic face washing products segment. Mixa is also No. 2 on the market for water-free cleansing products, just behind the private labels. The brand has currently a range of almost 10 face washing products and the company is going a step further : it plans to launch a purifying gel made from kiwi and aloe vera very soon.
Garnier : is going to strenghten its range "Essential Care" with vitamined water in the next months to hopefully regain some market share. Currently the brand offers a small range of products, mainly lotions and wipes. But the brand puts a lot of effort in its micellar water that is softly capturing the rediuals and impurities on the skin.
