At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the implementation of lockdowns sparked a wave of stockpiling essentials like food and hygiene products. At-home hair color products, in particular, saw rising demand as hair salons and barbershops were ordered to remain closed or limit capacity across the country.
Unlike some beauty categories in the United States, such as makeup, that were seeing a slight decrease in sales in 2020, the DIY hair color category went up 172% year-over-year in both online and offline total revenue. A significant piece of this growth, and where some unique trends emerged, was on Amazon. Drugstore retailers and brands alike need to pay attention to what’s happening on the marketplace to not only better understand consumers’ preferences for hair color products today—but to also draw insights into the direction of the category in the future. According to ClearCut Analytics’ Amazon market intelligence, here are some highlights of hair color trends from 2020.
1. Hair Color Category Size
The Hair Color Category as a whole generated $229MM in sales in 2020 on Amazon, up from $96MM in 2019 — a 138% YoY increase. This included a total of 223 hair color brands selling their products on Amazon. Of the 223 brands, 68 generated over $1MM in total revenue during those 12 months. Overall, there were a total of 1,419 products sold within the category on Amazon. This includes color-depositing and clarifying shampoos and conditioners.
2. Hair Color Shades
There are currently over 200 different hair color shades selling on Amazon. The top-performing hair color by total revenue was silver, followed by dark brown then medium brown. The top-performing blonde shade was dark blonde followed by light blonde. Silver and purple hair color products had almost 10% and 6% market share respectively.
3. Natural Brands vs. Non-Natural Brands
Non-natural products had significantly more total revenue than natural products from January through December 2020, with sales of $44MM and $16.5MM respectively. This corresponds to a 73% market share for non-natural products, while natural products made up the remaining 27%. However, natural products have seen a staggering 152% period growth vs. non-natural products with a still impressive 135% growth. This demonstrates that even with less overall revenue, natural brands and products are on the rise for the hair color category.
4. Competitor Brands
The largest brand in the hair color category on Amazon is L’Oreal Paris with nearly $36MM in revenue, representing a market share of 16%. L’Oreal Paris is followed by Clairol, which had revenues of almost $16MM in the same period. The top 10 brands accounted for 55% of total category revenue, with approximately 223 total brands selling on the marketplace.
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This article was originally shared in Drug Store News’ March 2021 Digital Magazine. Download the complete magazine here.
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