Nearly two billion euros is the turnover totaled by cosmetics in pharmacies in 2022
Nearly two billion euros will be the turnover totaled in 2022 by pharmacy cosmetics, which remains in third place among the industry’s sales channels but must begin to guard against the growth, another double-digit year, of e-commerce.
COSMETICS, FINAL FIGURES AND PROJECTIONS BY SALES CHANNEL
Cosmetics, closed 2022 with sales on the Italian market of 13.3 billion euros, up 12.2% on the previous year. And for the current year, forecasts speak of sales reaching a total of 14.4 billion in December, for an increase over 2022 of 7.7%. Pharmacy, for its part, totaled revenues of 1,951 million euros last year, up 4.6% over 2021, and in 2023 it is expected to grow by another 3.2%.
The two channels that precede pharmacy in market share promise to do better: the mass market, after ending 2022 with a 6% growth, is expected to put up a 5.1% jump this year; perfumery, totaling last year’s +18.1%, forecasts double-digit growth again in 2023.
Arguably, the competitor on which pharmacies should be racing from now on is e-commerce: the channel, in fact, closed 2022 with a turnover that is now worth about half that of the pharmacy (€988 million) and, above all, maintains double-digit growth: +13.4% in 2022, +12% the estimate for 2023.
SALES CHANNELS, EVOLUTION OF MARKET SHARE
A comparison of the market share of individual sales channels in the pre- and post-pandemic makes the rise of online even more evident: while pharmacy, perfumery, and mass market have all but regained the share they had in 2019, e-commerce has more than doubled it, from 4.6 to 8.6 %, and at the moment does not seem intent on slowing down.
Also sanctioning the return to pre-covid scenarios is the ranking by market share of cosmetics segments: in pharmacy, face and body care products (53.3 %), cleansing products (18.6 %), and hair care and dye products (9.6 %) are returning to their 2019 levels (indeed, surpassing them).
As for the segments that proved to be most dynamic in pharmacies, the jumps in lip protectants (+25.1% over 2021), sunscreens (+21.1% over 2021) and mouthwashes (+9.9%) stand out. Confirming the post-covid climate, however, are the declines in dyes and tinted foams (-5.6 %), exfoliants and face masks (-6.5 %) and firming and specific zones (-9 %).
COSMETICS, PRE AND POST COVID MARKET SHARES
Source: April 2023, “Cosmetica, in tutti i canali ripristinato il pre-pandemia. L’online addirittura raddoppia”, pharmacy scanner.
