Gen Y Fears Wrinkles: Cosmeceutical Sales To Hit $21 Billion
Americans are hooked on multitasking lotions: A new report from Packaged Facts reports that sales of cosmeceuticals—cosmetic products that offer some additional benefits—are expected to reach $16 billion in 2007, and $21 billion by 2012. And while crows-feet-phobic Baby Boomers are certainly a large part of the market, Gen X and Gen Y shoppers are also fueling the trend. Even babies are on board: $35 infant moisturizers are among the hot sellers, the report notes.
“The assortment of cosmeceutical products is constantly broadening,” says Timothy Dowd, senior analyst and author of the report. “While the term once only included things like anti-aging serums, it now covers lipsticks made with sunscreens, shampoos that soothe the scalp, and even eye cosmetics that offer skin benefits.”
Procter & Gamble, with its Olay brand, has fueled growth, “pushing line extensions to the hilt,” he says. “Among the cutting-edge products are things like home skin peels and microdermabrasion products, all positioned primarily as anti-aging products.”
In anti-aging body products, Johnson & Johnson continues to be strong, and L’Oreal, he says, steadily gained market share from P&G with the launch of new Garnier body products last year.
In the months ahead, Dowd predicts that marketers will begin to place a much greater emphasis on organic claims. “Forget natural,” he says, “it’s too vague. And as the industry pushes to self-regulate, I expect to see those claims increasingly used as a marketing ploy.”
