As hand sanitizer demand among the general public and essential workers spiked in the winter and early spring of 2020 amid the widening COVID-19 outbreak, supply chains scrambled to respond. The results have been stark.
As reported by CNBCa, December 2019-January 2020 hand sanitizer demand grew by 1,400%, year-over-year. The report noted that U.S. sales in the four weeks ending February 22 increased 73%, year-over-year, while that same month U.K. hand sanitizer sales rose 255% year-over-year, per Kantarb. As reported by HatchBeauty, searches for hand sanitizer grew 29x year-over-year in the first week of April 2020, totaling 2.2 million, per Trendalyticsc.
Related hygiene products also benefitted. NPDd reported that Q1 prestige hand soap sales jumped 73%, year-over-year.
Defense & Care: Two Sides of Hand Care
The global pandemic will have continued impacts on hand care and hygiene beyond the duration of the peak infection rates. To defend their hands and everything they touch, shoppers will continue to seek out products that offer protection from harmful bacteria and viruses, as well as environmental aggressors such as pollution and sun. At the same time, consumers will need to care for their heavily sanitized hands with products that rehydrate and fortify the skin’s barrier, while also restoring a healthy microbiome.
To illustrate the power of this trend, Spatee reported that “hand mask” searches jumped 606.4% month-over-month, February-March 2020, primarily among consumers seeking moisturization claims. Top brands in the space by search volume included Aveeno, Holler and Glow, Mediheal, Nature Republic, and Rolanjôna.
Writing for Cosmetics & Toiletriesf, managing editor Rachel Grabenhofer recently noted:
“Society has also been profusely washing hands and sanitizing them. This can clearly impact the skin barrier, requiring additional humectants, moisturizers, emollients and the like to protect against or replenish moisture loss, dryness and cracking. In turn, this will no doubt give a boost to dermatological, prescription-strength and doctor brand skin care because we’re compromising skin with every wash and rinse. It will also put a focus on effective, milder skin cleansing. After all is said and done, one might even expect to see a global rise in compromised skin conditions, itch, irritation and sensitivity; good thing the industry has ingredients to address these.
“In relation, cosmetic ingredient suppliers are focused on anti-irritants, skin protectants and preservative-minimizing ingredients. These care for and prevent further sensitization and irritation of frequently washed skin, as well as skin shielded beneath face masks for long periods of time.
Indeed, as we recently reported, South Korean beauty brands have moved away from trendy liquid-to-powder color foundations and lipsticks, and toward skin care; sales in these color categories plummeted 30% between February 2019 and 2020, whereas skin care saw a 50% boost over the same time period.
For the full article, check out Global Cosmetic Industry's June digital magazine.
Footnotes:
awww.cnbc.com/2020/03/03/coronavirus-hand-sanitizer-sales-surge-leading-to-price-hikes.html
bwww.kantar.com
cHatchBeauty Brands, www.hatchbeautybrands.com; www.trendalytics.co
dwww.npd.com
ewww.spate.nyc
fwww.cosmeticsandtoiletries.com
