The beauty industry has enjoyed steady growth in the U.S. over the last 10 years, driven largely by the strong performance of prestige beauty sales, the growth of specialty retailers, and bolstered, in more recent years, by a new crop of celebrity-backed and direct-to-consumer brands.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, consumers’ routines were instantly disrupted across all areas of life; working remotely became the norm for large portions of the population, non-essential retail outlets were closed for extended portions of 2020, social gatherings were discouraged, and face masks (not the ones we would traditionally think of in the skincare world) became a necessary accessory.
As we kick off 2021, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group has set out to understand how customer beauty preferences and behaviors have changed, and which of these changes may be here to stay.