PARIS — Inflationary impacts and shifts in preferred retail channels are expected to proceed impacting the sweetness business in France this yr, in line with a study carried out by NielsenIQ.

Notably, it found that 45 percent of French consumers queried said they plan to spend less money on beauty products in 2023. And 41 percent shared they might purchase cheaper beauty products to cut back their category-related expenses.

In France on-year, the buyer price index rose 4.5 percent in June and 5.1 percent in May, in line with INSEE, the country’s national statistics office. For a lot of consecutive months prior to that, the monthly increase hovered at around 6 percent.

“The inflationary period we’re going through has radically modified the behavior and buying habits of the French,” wrote NielsenIQ, adding beauty products are usually not exempt in such an economic climate.

Among the many people queried, 52 percent said that they had less and 26 percent said that they had more disposable income available in 2023 versus 2022.

“With the intention to reduce expenses, consumers will search for cheaper products, also reduce their frequency of purchases and use existing products,” NielsenIQ said within the study.

Consumer sentiment has a direct impact on spending. Eighty-four percent of those polled estimated that beauty product prices had risen over the six months to March. Meanwhile, 24 percent thought the hikes were higher for beauty than categories like groceries.

“There may be a possibility here for manufacturers and distributors to rethink the way in which they impart on promotions and likewise to innovate with the intention to highlight the worth profit for consumers,” said Nicolas Léger, an analytics director at NielsenIQ, in an announcement.

By product category, 84 percent of respondents said they’ll never stop buying hair care, led by shampoo and conditioner. That was followed by 73 percent for skincare — especially moisturizers and cleansers.

Sixty-five percent explained they might all the time proceed purchasing fragrance, with perfume and body spray leading the subcategories, and 55 percent cited that was the case for cosmetics, topped by those for the face, eyes and lips.

“The nail sector is the least necessary for our beauty product consumers, with far lower than 44 percent of respondents stating they might never stop buying [related products],” said NielsenIQ. Their favorite items were coloured products.

Retail-wise, persons are increasingly turning to e-commerce to buy beauty, in line with NielsenIQ. In France, the highest e-commerce beauty merchants are, in descending order, Amazon, Sephora, Nocibé, E.Leclerc, Marionnaud, MyOrigines, Vinted, Aroma-Zone, Notino and Typology.

By platform type, e-commerce beauty specialists have been generating the lion’s share of total sales, with 41 percent. That was followed by pure-player generalists, with 24 percent; direct-to-consumer, with 17 percent; brick-and-mortar generalists, with 9 percent, and “all other,” with 10 percent.

Regarding average order size, beauty specialists got here in first, with 63.90 euros. It was 38.70 euros for d-to-c, 17.80 euros for pure player generalists and 6.80 euros for brick-and-mortar generalists.

“The sweetness online sector is now a mainstay for consumers. The boundary between digital channels and physical stores is getting thinner and thinner,” said Claire Marty, vp beauty vertical at NielsenIQ. “Manufacturers and distributors must understand these dynamics, and use online and offline levers to succeed.”