Asia Personal Care & Cosmetics Market Guide 2016

interest, if the products are directly sent to individual consumers, thereby passing the need for product
registration.
There are between 20-25 distributors that sell cosmetics into the mass market. These distributors tend
to focus on sundry items but some do represent premium brands. The line between premium and mass
market in Australia is somewhat blurred—as mass market products move to masstique and premium
markets heretofore not available in discount retail stores.
Retail concentration is high in Australia. The grocery market is dominated by Coles and Woolworths
who between them account for 72 percent of grocery sales. Coles (Wesfarmers) and Woolworths also
own the three discount department store chains – Kmart, Target and Big W. These five outlets account
for a very significant share of personal care product sales.
Premium brands are sold through pharmacy chains and Australia’s only two department store chains –
Myer and David Jones. By contrast there are about 5,000 pharmacies in Australia, 12 percent of these
are independents, and 25 percent are controlled by three discount pharmacy chains. The Chemist
Warehouse is the biggest of these chains and, according to a Roy Morgan Research survey conducted in
2014, had six percent share of cosmetic sales. The same survey found that Priceline (a major pharmacy
chain exclusively focused on beauty products) had 15 percent, Myer had 15 percent and David Jones had
nine percent.
In terms of the professional beauty segment there are about 17,000 hairdressing salons, 3,000 beauty
salons, 3,000 nail salons, 1,000 day spas and 120 medi spas nationally. The professional beauty industry
is growing by about one percent annually. Franchised systems are gaining some share but most salons
are small owner-operated business. There are between 80-100 distributors/wholesalers that cater for
this segment. There are only about 10 distributors with the capability to promote cosmeceuticals via
doctor directed channels.
Product Trends
Australia is not generally known for setting trends but consumers are considered early adopters of
international trends. This in part is due to the fact that Australia has the highest internet penetration
rate in the Asia Pacific Region. By way of example Australia has 31 million active mobile phone
subscriptions serving a population of 23 million. 85 percent of those are smart phones.
Australia is also very culturally diverse. More than one quarter of the Australian population (28%) was
born overseas. Beauty trends from Europe, North America and the Asia Pacific very quickly find their
way to Australia.
Representative retail prices for the following products (Australian Dollars)
Products Mass Market Premium
Low High Low High
Perfume AU$12 AU$30 AU$35 AU$300
Lipstick AU$10 AU$20 AU$20 AU$55
Eye Shadow AU$8 AU$22 AU$16 AU$60
Mascara AU$5 AU$25 AU$20 AU$90
Sunscreen AU$10 AU$20 AU$40 AU$150