Prestige fragrance recovers fastest in UK beauty says NPD

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Sep 22, 2020

While skincare and make-up seem to regularly swap places as the most in-demand UK beauty category generally, it appears that for the prestige market, fragrance is leading the post-pandemic recovery.

That’s according to the NPD Group, which said the prestige fragrance market had reported sales of £1.3 billion in 2019 and post-lockdown, since the reopening of non-essential retail stores, it has “recovered the fastest of all prestige beauty categories”.

“In very challenging circumstances during Covid-19, fragrance performance has improved from -67% during lockdown compared to the same period in 2019, to -13% post-lockdown,” NPD said.

It’s certainly interesting that UK consumers have embraced scent above all other categories. That relatively small 13% post-lockdown decline compares to a 24% drop in the entire prestige beauty market, which NPD said is, in part, due to “the ongoing challenges faced by the make-up sector”.  

So what’s behind the stronger-than-expected perfumery sales? “The popularity of fragrance can be attributed to a number of factors,” said Emma Fishwick, Account Manager, NPD UK Beauty. 

“Fragrance doesn’t require touch when applying or appreciating it. Retailers are also utilising unsold gift sets to encourage consumers back into store using price promotion. As a result, fragrance gift sets have reported positive growth of 32% post-lockdown compared to the same period in 2019. Consumers are now increasingly price-conscious and opting for products that are perceived as value for money.”