Fashion: Outlays on men’s skincare products surge

male consumers, and 15 percent of women consumers, will spend more than 5,000 yuan a month on online shopping. However, there are no clear figures for the actual number of male and female consumers in China.

A joint report by The Boston Consulting Group and AliResearch, the research arm of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, said China’s consumermarket,theworld’ssecondlargest, is projected to reach $6.1 trillion by 2021.

The future consumer market growth would be particularly driven by China’s emerging upper middle-class and affluent households. The younger generation’s purchasing habits and their increasing role in omnichannel e-commerce are key. Males’ spending on skincare products surged by 24 percent from 2014 to 2015, compared with the 11 percent growth in overall skincare product spending.

Zong Ning, a Beijing-based e-commerce analyst, said in a column on iResearch website that as tech-savvy young males, especially those born in the 1990s, gradually become the influential force in the consumer world, the erupting demographic is creating new momentum in the marketformaleproductsand services.

Chinese men are no longer shy of setting foot in, say, a beautyandgroomingsalonor fashion stores. Self-expressionhasbecomearespectable phrase.

Last year, China’s male skincare market saw sales of more than 10 billion yuan, and are expected to hit 15.4 billion yuan by 2019, according to a report by CTR Market Research.

Seeing the new trend, major cosmetic brands are now adjusting strategies to better cater to the booming male market. For brands, young men are as key to success as female consumers.

Beiersdorf China, affiliate of Germany’s Beiersdorf AG said with the increasingly changing male behaviors, it now sees huge potential in its Nivea Men brand’s online sales in China.

According to the company, theNiveaMensectorhasnow

We estimate the proportion of online sales will hit 50 percent by 2020.” marketing manager of Beiersdorf China

Simon Cao, become the firm’s business in China.

Online sales now account for one-third of overall Nivea Men sales in China, according to Simon Cao, marketing director of Beiersdorf China.

“With the booming mobile internet and e-commerce development,nowmoretechsavvy males will prefer to buy cosmetic products from online stores. We estimate the proportion of online sales will hit 50 percent by 2020.”

Cao said the scene has changed a lot in the last five years. Today, e-commerce is more than just a supplementary channel for offline sales. It is the main marketplace to further develop brands.

Using big data, the online platform of Nivea is able to analyze consumer behavior and develop new products to better target specific consumer needs.

According to Cao, consumption upgrade is also key as young males spend more moneyongrooming,preferto buy more skincare products, and even would like to try on makeup. So, at the beginning of last year, Nivea Men introduced more categories of cosmetics such as new shampoo.

HavingbeenaroundinChina for more than 10 years, Nivea Men ranks as one of the leading male cosmetic brands. Unlike its top rival L’Oreal that presents metrosexual images in its promotions, Nivea Men caters to males seeking high efficiency and behaving in a sincere manner.

“The competition in the industry is really fierce,” Cao said. “The key is to keep pace with the young consumers and the new trend, and retain loyalty of existing consumers as well as attract potential consumers.” largest