The sweet smell of optimism: Perfume sales fuel retailers’ hopes for Christmas spending
Buoyant perfume sales are giving retailers hope for a Christmas shopping surge in defiance of fears of an economic chill.
Economists often look to the so-called Lipstick Index in tough times with shoppers’ willingness to spend on little luxuries reflecting wider levels of confidence in good times ahead.
However, sales of perfume not make-up is the indicator giving festive cheer to stores pinning their hopes on a December rush.
According to market research company, The NPD Group, fragrance sales increased 25% in the first half of this year, accounting for 81% of sales growth in the prestige beauty market while demand for cosmetics fell by as much as 70% during lockdown.
And while, traditionally, the majority of perfume sales have come from stores, online fragrance sales increased 91% between January and June.
Jonny Webber, from retailer Perfume Direct, said: “The pandemic has fuelled a bit of a perfume obsession as the nation turned to fragrance in lockdown
to treat themselves and lift their spirits. Both retailers and shoppers had to adapt to not being able to buy fragrance in store, in the usual way, and the result is that people have become a lot more tuned in to their favoured scent notes and fragrance types, making them more confident in buying perfumes without trying them on.”
High street giants John Lewis reported a 24% year-on-year increase in sales of perfume, and the three most searched products on their website – which grew by grew by 73% in the last financial year – were all luxury fragrances. The top spot went to Maison
Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540 Eau de Parfum, which retails for £215 a bottle, and has been pegged as the top beauty gift for 2021.
Megan Mosley, lead for make-up and fragrance at John Lewis, said: “Until now, this fragrance has been an insider secret, but this year we are seeing Baccarat Rouge explode as customers fall in love with this sophisticated scent.”
With social outings restricted for much of the past 18 months, it
would be logical to think perfume use would decrease in much the same way as lipstick and other cosmetics, which became largely redundant due to working from home and mask wearing in public. However, it is thought demand for fragrance remained high as buyers used scent to boost their mood.
Webber continued: “At the start of the pandemic a lot of our best sellers became even more popular as people turned to scents that were familiar and perhaps a little nostalgic.
“People were looking for comfort and familiarity in an uncertain time.”
Alessandro Commisso, product inventor at cosmetics company Lush, agreed: “We have seen a huge shift in how perfumes are chosen and used by our customers. People have been wearing perfumes to lift their own mood – as self-care.
“Perfumes have become the perfect ritual to take a break from our lockdown lives and go somewhere else just by following your nose.”
The NPD Group estimates that in the UK November and December account for around half of a full year’s worth of fragrance sales – with sales totalling £550 million in 2019 – and Webber says 2021 is no different.
He explained: “Christmas is always a hugely popular time for perfume sales but we are expecting it to be even more so this year.
“People have really appreciated the sense of luxury, and also comfort, that fragrance has provided over the past year or so and this is something that they are keen to take into 2022.”