Forced wearing of masks or work from home is completely changing the cosmetics business in the country. Sales for makeup and perfume products have halved, while those for personal care and detergents have risen 30%. Hair dyeing is also done a lot at home. Customs data on imports of perfumes, make-up products and paints confirm the trend.
By Dorina Azo
The pandemic changed the behavior of almost all Albanians. For two months, most were locked up at home. Even now, many employees spend more time at home while working online. Weddings, other holidays and parties are no more. Clothing and lifestyle are increasingly oriented towards practicality. Masks indoors are already mandatory. Then what do you need make-up for, or lipstick?
This situation has drastically reformatted the shopping report for beauty products to Albanians. If before COVID-19, market sales were divided 65% for make-up products and 35% for those of personal care and house cleaning, after isolation, the trend of the population changed. The General Director of Sales in the company "Farmasi Albania", claims for "Monitor" that currently the market is divided: 65% of sales are for hygiene products, personal care, detergents and 35-40% for those of makeup.
This tendency is also confirmed by official data. Imports of makeup products fell by 6.5% on an annual basis for the 6-month period, according to data from the General Directorate of Customs. After a double-digit growth for the first two months of the year, the trend changed completely after the start of quarantine. The decline was over 30% in March and April and 19% in May. In June alone, after quarantine ended, imports of these products returned to 24% growth.
Marçela Kapo, from "Farmasi Albania", explains how the sales trend changed after the quarantine. During this period, the use of make-up products, such as face creams, lipsticks, pencils and perfumes, etc., decreased, while the use of personal care products, such as hair shampoos and household cleaning detergents, increased significantly. According to the sales director, there are two reasons for the decline in sales of makeup products: the appearance of insecurity to the consumer due to the pandemic and the wearing of the mask, which does not favor the painting of the face and lips.
"Until April, consumers were still buying make-up products, as they thought the quarantine would end quickly and they would return to work. Price bids were also applied during this period. The decline in sales for these products began in May. After the opening of the economy, it was noticed that buyers felt insecure about how long the pandemic would continue.
The sale of lipsticks, suffered the highest reduction compared to a year ago. I think that wearing a mask also affects this. Even the light powder cream that is the best seller in the summer season, currently has a significant decline. In July, the powder cream used for make-up, increased slightly, so it can be said that it is recovering.
The pandemic and the increase in numbers affected the increase in sales of personal care products by about 30% compared to a year ago for the company "Farmasi". "More shampoos for hair, body, liquid hand soap and body creams are being sold in personal care products. The highest sales growth is in house cleaning detergents, especially for washing floors, parquets and anti-grease.
We anticipate that sales for the detergent and personal care line will increase in the coming months as well. For this reason, the company's offers are focused on these products. Forecasts for sales of these products remain optimistic, even if there will be another closure of the economy in September.
With a mask, why do you need lipstick!
The sale of lipsticks, suffered the highest reduction compared to a year ago. I think that wearing a mask also affects this. Even the light powder cream that is the best seller in the summer season, currently has a significant decline.
Source: Monitor
