MILAN — During a press conference titled, “Economics, Trends and Investments in the Cosmetics Industry,” held by Cosmetica Italia on Tuesday in Milan, a positive outlook for the cosmetics industry in 2015 was given.
According to an economic survey of the research center of Cosmetica Italia, 2015 started with a general improvement in economic indicators for the cosmetics sector, indicating an expected market value at the end of the year of more than 9.4 billion euro, or about $10.3 billion at current exchange rate.
“Next to the resumption of the internal market, which in recent years had slowed down its development, an attitude of incorporation of the crisis for both consumers and businesses has emerged,“ said Fabio Rossello, president of Cosmetica Italia. He added that at the end of 2015 the production value will exceed 9.6 billion euros (up 3 percent), or about $10.45 billion, and exports will reach 3.6 billion euros, or about $3.9 billion, by the end of the year with an 8 percent growth.
Also, a slowdown in the decline in the professional channels was noted, such as for the professional hairstyle industry, which expects a drop of 2.4 percent in 2015, after a 4 percent decrease in 2014. The slowdown is also seen in the retail perfumery industry, with a predicted decrease of 1 percent and a value of 2.05 billion euros, or about $2.24 billion at the end of the year. Beauty centers are expected to close at 230 million euros (down 3.5 percent), or about $251 million.
The herbal channels are expected to gain 3 percent by the end of the year, credited to the growing interest of consumers in natural products. The pharmacy channel expects an increase of 1.5 percent, whereas the mass market forecasts a slight rise of 0.7 percent for 2015 with a value of 3.8 billion euros, or about $4.1 billion.
Gian Andrea Positano, head of the research center, also introduced Cosmetica Italia’s newest project, the Beauty Trend Watch.
“It’s a container of future trends established with the objective to investigate, with the support of experts, operators and web platforms, the issues that will shape future products, consumers and channels, and to better understand the future market dynamics,” he said and added, “E-commerce, multichannel, social media, natural/organic and multifunction drivers are identified and considered most important in guiding future choices of consumers.”