Market Overview

The size of the market of professional-use cosmetics for hair salons and barber shops for FY2021 was 147.8 billion yen, up 106.4% from the previous fiscal year, based on the value of shipment from manufacturers. The hair salon and barber shop cosmetics market has seen a gradual recovery in the number of customers visiting salons/shops. This is because in FY2021, the spread of the new coronavirus infection that has continued from the previous fiscal year has not had the same level of impact as the large drop in the number of customers occurred in April to May 2020, and restrictions on operations at retail stores have been limited. Although many people hesitate to spend on travel, leisure, fashion, and other activities in the COVID-19 pandemic, the fundamental need for beauty prompted people’s interest in hair care or hair styling, which also appears to have led to a rise in the amount of spending at hair salons and barber shops where they can have an unusual experience easily. The pandemic triggered further progress in building an ecommerce channel for sales of products that are normally available only at hair salons and barber shops, which stimulated sales of such products more than in previous years.

Noteworthy Topics

Efforts to Strengthen the Product Sales Business, Including E-commerce, and Sales Promotion Apps for At-Home Hair Care Products are Accelerated

The hair salon and barber shop industry, like other retailer businesses, has been working on online sales as a powerful business model for product sales. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has urged many manufacturers and dealers to launch or introduce e-commerce systems as a non-face-to-face/contactless sales channel to create customer contact points and sales opportunities other than physical retail stores.


Hair salon and barber shop cosmetics manufacturers have established online systems for customers who purchase and use their products, and major beauty product dealers have also established online systems by cosmetics manufacturer for at-home hair care products used by each of individual salons, clients of the dealers. The number of salons using these systems is increasing.

Future Outlook

In FY2020, the size of the market fell sharply due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, which led to a significant decrease in the number of customers visiting hair salons and barber shops, a decline in sales of such hair care services as cutting, dyeing, styling, etc., and a decrease in opportunities to recommend products that can be purchased at salons/shops. In FY2021, the infection control measures were advanced and the e-commerce system for customers to purchase products offered at salons/shops was improved, which led to an increase in sales of products.


While the number of customers visiting stores is expected to continue to increase to some extent in FY2022 and beyond, it is anticipated that it will be difficult for the number of customers to recover to the same level as the period before the COVID-19 pandemic, assuming a certain lifestyles to be formed, such as the habit of wearing masks, restraining ourselves from unnecessary going out, and avoiding Three Cs (crowded places, close-contact settings, and closed spaces) as much as possible in consideration of the risk of infection even during normal times. Furthermore, the market is anticipated to continue on a downward trend due to the structural problem of a declining population of users of beauty products and services caused by a declining birthrate.

Research Outline