Market Overview

Size of the hair salon and barber shop cosmetics market fell to 93.8% of the previous fiscal year to attain 138,900 million yen in FY2020, based on the shipment value at manufacturers. The market has been scaling down due to the decrease of prospective customer segment due to shrinking demographics. The situation got worse in FY2020 with the outbreak of COVID-19. Consumers refrained from going out for fear of  infection, which led to a decrease in salon visit frequency  and total number of salon users. Meanwhile, at-home spending surged during the pandemic. Rise in demand for haircare item for home care drove the sales of salon exclusive products. 

Noteworthy Topics

E-Commerce System as Leading Sales Channel During Pandemic

To promote sales of salon exclusive products that used to be sold in-person, manufacturers and dealers of haircare cosmetics focused on introducing e-commerce system to engagement with customers. While COVID-19 crisis made consumers prefer staying home and refrain from visiting hair salons and barbers, commodity sales through online sales channel increased significance. Going forward, online sales of salon-grade products is expected to become predominant.

During the pandemic, manufacturers and dealers pivoted their digital channel from e-commerce marketplace to  in-house digital platforms. Hair salons and barbershops also promoted direct sales via smartphone apps.

Future Outlook

Despite the unprecedented drop in the number of salon users during the state of emergency (declared in April-May 2020), consumers are gradually returning . As the upward trend is continuing from June, the hair salon and barber shop cosmetics market anticipates positive growth for FY2021. Although decline in the domestic demand associated with shrinking demographics cannot be avoided, consumption activities in the market is projected to recover eventually as the impact of  COVID-19 pandemic wanes.

Nevertheless, the market of hair salon and barber shop cosmetics is projected to diminish during “with-corona” and “post-corona” era.  Industry thinks it is overly optimistic to beleive the marekt will recover to the pre-pandemic level.

Research Outline