Older women prove main target for cosmeceuticals

Fuelled by the growing availability of high-performance cosmeceutical products, a new report from Datamonitor stresses that this category is likely to show robust growth during the course of the next five years.

Defined as product containing more than one bio-active ingredient, the growth taps into an aging population that is no longer willing to accept the inevitable onset of visible aging signs.

Having had a significant head-start, Europe is still be far the largest market but the US market is predicted to catch up in the coming years, with a higher growth rate. Datamonitor​ figures, extracted from 'Insights into Tomorrow's Cosmeceuticals Consumer' show that in the US the market stood at $1.20 billion in 1999 and reached $2.65 billion in 2004. Up to 20009, this market is expected to achieve annual growth of 6.3 per cent, to reach $3.60 billion.

In 1999 the European market stood at $2.53 billion and had grown to $3.39 billion by 2004. Annual growth is expected to come in at 4.8 per cent to reach $4.42 billion by 2009.

This gives a combined figure for the US and European cosmeceutical markets of $8.02 billion, on the back of annual growth of 5.5 per cent.

But capitalizing on this growth will not necessarily be a straight forward process, Datamonitor warns.

" In order to effectively capitalize on consumers' growinginterest in cosmeceuticals, personal care players must gain a detailed understandingof the consumer trends and needs that drive this market, of the concerns thatconsumers wish to address through their use and, importantly, how to gain their trust,"​ the report stresses.

More specifically marketers must not patronize seniors in their attempts to win over consumer confidence. The new generation of senior consumers is significantly more sophisticated, requiring a more complex and understanding approach to their needs.

This means that products claims must be clearly communicated and without being too far-fetched in an effort to build a strong customer base through trust. Datamonitor says that the consumer awareness means that they will no longer accept extreme claims that are difficult to substantiate.Products that target specific parts of the body are stressed as being a significant growth area. Datamonitor says that its market survey suggested that 33.7 per cent of respondents claimed to have used such a product in the past 12 months.

Likewise 37 per cent of respondents said they had incorporated a cosmeceutical product targeting the face as part of the regular beauty routine in the past year.

But the report also points out that men should not be left out of the cosmeceutical equation either. Although men are less likely to spend time and money on their appearance, they are willing to invest in products with proven functionality, making active cosmeceutical products more appealing to them.