Anti-aging & cruelty free: cleansing wipes that are more than skin deep

Let’s do a quick pros and cons list here for makeup.

Pro: it can enhance your natural beauty

Con: it can clog your pores leaving your skin vulnerable to acne 

But how do we cure this dilemma? Well, surely by now you know the answer. A quick use of a cleansing wipe after a long day at work or night out with friends will leave your face feeling fresh and rejuvenated. 

Facial wipes are a staple to maintaining healthy skin and is a key contributor in the facial care market. Through the years, Canadean Consumer Market Data reports that the product has seen a steady rise with a 5.2% compound annual growth rate from 2000 through 2019. Additionally, while the global skin care market currently grows at around 6%, the facial cleansing wipe market is growing with a projected 10% annual growth rate over the next few years.

In one of our Daily Surveys, the Caddle team ventured out to discover how our members purchasing habits match up to industry trends. As Technavio highlights the industry, consumers aged 20-39 are high facial wipe purchasers for their personal grooming habits and rising disposable incomes. This is an interesting relation to our findings as this age group provided the most insight regarding their use of facial wipes. Additionally, this helps explain why 70% of our members indicated that they purchase cleansing wipes.

How else can our findings provide insights into the industry?

Dismissing the one size fits all approach 

While you may not look a day over 20, your skin likely isn’t the same when you celebrated your third 20th birthday. But that’s okay, you want a product that offers something different from what your children are using and the industry understands that.

Developing products that can reach a wide span of different generations is something that the skincare industry works hard at investigating.

“The age group of target consumers is another major factor considered by skincare product manufacturers. For instance, Estée Lauder, through its brand CLINIQUE and LVMH, [and] through its brand philosophy, offer facial wipes for different age groups such as teens, age groups of 20-29 years, and age groups 30-39 years,” says Brijesh Kumar Choubey, a lead cosmetics and toiletry analyst at Technavio.

Did you notice the keyword there? It is in their brand philosophy to provide facial wipes that are useful to different age groups. This is reassuring as our members indicated that they were interested in different innovations generally based off their generation. I.e., baby boomers are more interested in anti-aging cleaning wipes while Gen Z members are more concerned about cruelty free products. By continuing to integrate the needs and wants of the consumer in their brand philosophy this would be a wise objective to maintain as industry leaders can expect to see brand loyalty. And who doesn’t love brand loyalty? That means more money!

Age is beauty

Don’t be ashamed of your age, embrace it! In the Canadian report “Redefining Anti-Aging Marketing Strategies for the Beauty Industry” it was discovered that consumers are now embracing their age and rather than striving to look younger, consumers are now interested in simply looking their actual age instead of trying to hide it. Older women are no longer trying to be hip with the younger generation by trying to dress and look younger than what they are. And beauty products are helping women embrace this natural gift so they can be the best version they can be.

Looking at our insights it appears that the industry is listening to their audiences. When asking members what cleansing wipe innovations they would be most interested in, BC female Baby Boomers indicated that they would be most interested in an anti-aging infused serum in their facial wipes. By developing a product as such, this would allow for women to maintain the health of their skin without premature aging and women can be confident with their age and embrace their natural beauty.

Leave no market untapped

While the skin care market is deep in research and development on new innovative products, the global skin care trends are not currently well-addressed in the wipes market. Becoming more aware of global skin care trends opens a whole new world of opportunity for market leaders and manufacturers as they can begin to predict what the next generation of wipes may look like.

Look no further as we have the insights for you! When asking our members what cleansing wipe innovations they were most interested in trying, our Ontario Gen Z members indicated that they were most interested in cruelty free wipes.

Among other product innovations such recyclable packaging and vegan/cleaner products, cruelty-free products is something that Gen Z consumers have highlighted as an important factor when considering a purchase. “They’re a very conscious consumer,” says Tara Simon, the retailer senior vice president of merchandising for prestige beauty at Ulta.  

Gen Z customers have a deep passion for the wellbeing of animals and are especially double checking their beauty brands for the cruelty-free label on these products. If no such label is found, these customers are likely to turn on their brand.

This is something to seriously consider if it means generating and maintaining a brand loyalty to an emerging generation. It’s worthwhile and is in the industry’s best effort to consider producing products that don’t harm animals in anyway.

So what?

While the skincare market is steadily growing at comfortable levels of 5%-6%, the facial cleansing wipe market is one that is ahead of the curve with an annual growth of 10%. While such products provide effective needs of removing makeup and dirt, it would be beneficial for the market to evaluate global trends so that they can meet the needs and lifestyles of different generations. With reference to the industry, our insights suggest that developing cleansing wipes that tend to an older audience with anti-aging infused serum, and cruelty-free wipes are potential profit generators.

If you’re in the CPG industry and you’re wanting to get a better understanding of who your consumer is and their purchasing habits but don’t have months to wait for feedback, we encourage you to reach out to us so we can accelerate your time to insights.

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