Which is why the companies that produce the products that cater to our everyday needs are focusing on new ways to capture the attention of consumers. Brands both big and small are recognizing the hunger that consumers have for discovering novel solutions to the new priorities in their lives.

Women are exploring new brands unique to their physiology. Men are discovering ways to bring some sophistication back to their lifestyle. Millennials are increasingly concerned with the effects of cosmetics on animals and the environment. So what exactly does personal care mean in today’s global market?

Women: Redefining Beauty and Personalized Care

Women have consistently been the most active demographic in the personal care industry, but what connects women with brands has evolved over time. Today’s woman isn’t a single entity, but a vast collective of different personalities, backgrounds, and needs. Today’s woman is also someone who is redefining what is essential to beauty.

More and more women are viewing self-care as more than just lipstick and bubble baths. It’s about sometimes saying no, about creating time for oneself, about letting go and ‘sweating it out,’ and about the products that align with this concept of beauty.

Women are also finding comfort in the ability to align brands with their specific skin types, ethnicities, and physicality. Our ability to formulate products on a microtargeted scale is allowing brands like Cantu to create lines of skin creams, makeup, and shampoos that condition in a more scientific way.

Lastly, women are looking at the ingredients that play a role in their products, opting for fewer parabens, fewer sulfates, and more natural ingredients. There is now the same amount of consideration for what a product is made with as the actual function the product performs.

Men: A Return Towards Gentleman’s Care

It’s easy to dismiss a guy’s personal care regiment as some no-fuss, 2-in-1 solution. White it’s true that the vast majority of guys use the grooming basics — shampoo (79%),² soap (80%),³ and shaving (94%),⁴ — it’s also true that more than 22% of all men have a daily skin care routine, an area that’s experienced 7% growth in the last year.⁵

For today’s man, personal care is about embracing one’s unique style and adding a level of sophistication to the day to day. Artisanal barbershop are a common Main Street sighting, and the use of moisturizer and under-eye cream are no longer signs that a man is ‘high maintenance.’

Brands are recognizing this shift towards gentlemanliness and offering up products necessary for maintaining appearance, no matter what choices he makes (there are just as many products available for clean-shaven guys are there are to keep a beard properly maintained). Men represent a new frontier in personal care as a bloc that has largely been untapped, but showing promise among younger age groups.

Young Adults: A Social Responsibility

For teenagers and younger adults, personal care is about more than the functional. We hear a lot of talk about the apathy that younger generations have, but in reality they are more focused on the impact of personal care on society, the environment, and our psyche than any other group. They want to know what’s in their products, how they are tested, and where the ingredients were sourced.

There is also a large shift in younger attitudes towards what it means to be beautiful. Beauty is no longer a single unattainable image, but rather a celebration of sizes, skin tones, and social statuses. Beauty transcends the physical and into the social lives of individuals who celebrate what sets us apart.

That being said, young adults are still the most digitally-connected group, and are heavily influenced by what they see on their social feeds. At times this can present conflicts, where the most “in” product doesn’t align with their environmental concerns or goes against their anti-establishment groove.

Seniors: A New Frontier for Brand Use, Discovery, and Purchasing

Older generations are experiencing a shift in their own perceptions of personal care in that it’s not necessarily taboo to get old (but rather a badge of honor). Preconceived notions about what it means to be old are being challenged by the very group they represent.

Baby Boomers have a desire to break out of past behavior and explore new lifestyles (which can affect the products they choose to support those lifestyles). While traditional concerns like wrinkles and dry skin are still top-of-mind, they aren’t the only drivers for consumer choice. Brands today are focusing on celebrating age as opposed to merely avoiding it.

In addition, a lot has changed in regards to how seniors buy products. The Internet has influenced every demographic and market, but consumer goods companies have found older adults as a group that has bucked the trend of normal adaptation.

Older generations are less likely to buy online (although with 40% of those aged 65 and over buying online, it’s the highest this group has ever seen).⁶ Concurrently, when they research products, they are more likely to use traditional online means (more Google, less Instagram) and are increasing their online purchases as they become more tech savvy.

Kids: Safe and Soothing Care

While you’re not likely to get much of an answer from the source directly, today’s parents know what they want (or want to avoid) in their child’s personal care products. Following a string of lawsuits, education on digestion, and even social awareness around the environment, it’s clear that parents are making more active decisions about the products they use on their kids.

What changes the most are the ingredients to avoid. Some of the more known entities — parabens, sulfates, animal-based products — are becoming default no-nos. Others, such as vegan, no-soy, reef-safe, and cruelty-free, are typically decided on a case-by-case basis according to health and social preferences.

Parents are also looking for soaps, shampoos, and moisturizers to go further than “no more tears,” and provide benefits beyond the bath. Johnson & Johnson’s line of baby washes now include variations with lavender scents for bedtime calming, or special vapors to sooth fussy babies.

Parents are also spending more on these specialized products, adding to a $78 billion-dollar industry that is continuing to grow. Expect companies to continue to push for holistic care products, socially responsible manufacturing practices, and products that protect against harmful elements.

If there’s a single thread that connects all of these groups together, it’s a desire for more a la carté products that address specific needs that are important to every subset. Part of what makes up beauty and personal care’s overall market value is the variety in solutions, formulations, and brands.

The internet will continue to play a key role in our education of ingredients (as well as a main channel for buying products) but it’s going to be the social consensus that drives innovation. As we grow in our knowledge of how personal care is connected to our bodies and our interests, we should expect brands to find a way to connect as well.

To consumers, these corrugated containers represent the convergence of style, technology, and convenience. Posting a value of nearly $2.6 billion dollars and encompassing more than half of all online shoppers, it also represents the future of e-commerce.

That’s only the start of the appeal. Each box offers marketing potential, product launch opportunities, and a pipeline to some of the most niche, hard-to-reach audiences.

Digital Microtargeting in a Tangible Way

Since we are now able to market with pinpoint accuracy, and manufacturing workflows are becoming more streamlined, servicing a highly targeted niche audience is no longer an impossibility.

Box services for male audiences? Check. Female? Check. Oily skin? No problem. Dry skin? That too. A gluten-free young professional who runs 4-5 days a week? There’s a box service for them.

What’s more — the data cultivated from Facebook, Google, or abandoned shopping carts help define the markets for future subscription services.

This data can also help companies increase profits through up charges and add-ons. Most services are in touch with their customers — through Instagram or email — with a sophisticated workflow of pre-shipment reminders, additional sales opportunities, and increased exposure to new brands.

The Psychology of Subscription Services

For these recurring services, there are two main models in the personal care segment. Curated & Customized services ship you a monthly box of products tailored to match your skin type, fashion sense, or lifestyle.

Replenishment services automatically ship refills on a predetermined schedule or when a smart device is notified or alerts you when you’re running low. Both models offer psychological rewards, either in the form of convenience, or a rise in the level of neurons in the pleasure centers of our brain.

In a 2006 study, ‘Pure Novelty Spurs the Brain,’⁴ researchers Nico Bunzeck and Emrah Düzel found that the ‘novelty center’ of our brain — the SN/VTA — can be activated by the unexpected. They discovered neurons that were more stimulated when a subject was shown a series of repeated images, but were also shown new images on occasion.

This might help explain the success brands have been having on getting subscribers to join. We are hard-wired to find value in getting a gift, even if it’s a gift we pay for ourselves.

So who’s winning? Several companies have proven to be key players in this segment of mail order commerce.

Harry’s | Dollar Shave Club may have been the company that put one buck razors in the zeitgeist, but Harry’s has built upon that model with a brand of sophisticated masculinity. They believe that self care is more than just a close shave and some tonic. Its about a full line of skin creams, body wash, and styling products that round out a man’s grooming habits.

Birchbox | The leading company in blending fashion and personal care, Birchbox makes the connection between one’s skin cleanser and their clean pair of open-toed shoes. They are selling a personality, and connecting brands with audiences that match them in a meaningful way.

Quip | Quip started with a toothbrush (a sophisticated one) and built their subscription model on keeping customers stocked with toothpaste and replacement heads. They offer the convenience of not needing to think about such a prosaic purchase, and are making tooth brushing more exciting.

Stitch Fix | With a focus on fashion, Stitch Fix offers boxes catered to women, men, and kids. Their profile assessment tools go beyond the fit to ask how much you might be interested in spending on clothes, or how bold you want your selection to be (“bring it on — I’m into trying new brands”). Stylists are assigned to each customer, providing a touch of personal service.

IPSY | As the largest cosmetic subscription service, IPSY seeks to ‘inspire individuals around the world to express their unique beauty.’ Their product offerings run the gamut of skin cleansers to skin creams; concealers to compacts, and is constantly introducing new up and coming indies.

When brands align themselves to a platform that matches their own culture and personality, sales can be impacted in an enormous way. Subscription boxes have experienced more than 890% growth in the last five years,⁵ a boom in profits is allowing companies to continue improving their user experience, sales touchpoints, and marketing reach.

All of this leads back to the fact that subscription boxes are one of the most effective ways to distribute something that is hot in demand (or would like to be). Predicting product supply and the logistics of distribution become much easier to manage. So much in fact, that some brands are pushing subscription plans over on-demand purchasing.

In the brick-and-mortar retail world, there’s an old theory that when a person tries something on, they’ve often already made the decision to buy it. Another theory states that on-the-fence customers are more likely to buy if they can try it out, and yet another one speculates that new brands are discovered through personal recommendations.

Subscription box services acts on all of these, and includes a truckload of other commercial advantages. Expect these services to continue influencing personal care for the foreseeable future.

Of course, any brand can experience difficulty navigating new markets, and we often see big names struggling to sync their old workflows to the new. Those who appreciate these dynamics and welcome out-of-the-box thinking are often the ones setting the ground rules moving forward.

Here are some things major brands are watching out for right now in personal care.

The Beauty Care Landscape is Shifting

Established consumer goods companies might have the advantage in infrastructure, but emerging brands are gaining ground in innovation, new ingredients, and the ability to appeal to new audiences. They are proving themselves to be significant disruptors to the status quo by offering new approaches to old ideas.

The overall market is experiencing fluidity, as smaller brands are gobbled up by larger, well-known names. These companies can offer the innovativeness of a start-up with an enterprise workflow. At the same time, cash-flush organizations are investing heavily in their own internal R&D, hoping to incubate the next great start-up.

Consumer Spending is Cultivating Prestige

Luxury beauty products have seen some of the most impressive increases in market share since the economic recovery. U.S. sales in prestige personal care is expected to come close to $4.5 billion in 2019 and with a CAGR of 4.1%, this number will only increase. Skin care alone has posted a strong 6% increase according to beauty industry analyst, The NPD Group.¹

Major CPGs are putting an emphasis on prestige largely due to its high profit margin, and the fact that consumers are more likely to remain loyal to their beauty care regiments when higher-end products are involved. These companies also have a huge advantage in the R&D infrastructure they already have in place.

Custom Tailored Product Offerings…

As AI integrates itself into everything we do, consumers are expecting personalized experiences on all levels. This includes the product itself, the marketing used to sell it, and the ordering process required to buy it.

Companies like Proven — a company born out of the Skin Genome Project — offers an algorithmic approach, recommending products based on an in-depth questionnaire. After answering some basic details, Proven pairs a cleanser, SPF moisturizer, and night cream for a quick, out-of-the-box skin care regiment.

…Sent Automatically Every Month

Once a purchase is made, shoppers are offered the convenience of automatic order placements every month. This worry-free approach practically ensures brand loyalty and offers some stability in product supply while offering additional upsells through à la carte add-ons prior to shipping.

The Internet’s most popular toothbrush company, Quip, makes sure that a 90-day supply of toothpaste arrives on your doorstep exactly when you need it. Amazon pushes customers towards renewal purchasing by offering discounts for products designated with ‘Subscribe and Save’ pricing.

These services have the potential to expand audience reach in compelling ways. According to Forbes, 15% of online shoppers have signed up for these types of automated services.²

…In Custom Branded Packaging

To round out these personalized experiences, brands are able to more cost-effectively brand the presentation of their goods when it’s shipped. Printing on demand allows brands to reinforce messaging on and inside the box. In the end, the entire experience of receiving a product in the mail is a case study in brand loyalty and messaging.

These custom designed, custom-tailored packages extend the brand recognition and consistently reinforce why the user purchased the brand in the first place. Stylish graphic design, high-quality construction, and a user-centric approach add a layer of distinction to a product’s reputation.

Embracing the Digital Shelf Space

It’s hard to meet someone who hasn’t integrated Prime’s 2-day shipping into their day-to-day life. With only a few simple taps, that refill bottle of sulfate-free, ultra-moisturizing shampoo is on its way. Amazon is an incredible pipeline to consumers, but companies have to play by their rules.

In trying to balance appropriate inventory, a lot of onus is placed on companies to figure out how they can leverage their in-house packaging operations to fulfill on-demand orders. Walmart, Target, and other big-name retailers are making plays to compete with Amazon, so this will only continue to grow.

Keeping a Product Supply Regiment on Track

Personal Care will of course continue to adapt, then evolve, and adapt some more. As our marketplace becomes more global, more digital, we will see outside forces continuing to shake up the landscape. Brands will continue to jockey for market share and test experimental, new ways to solve yesterday’s problems.

Companies that exceed in reading the tea leaves of personal care understand that in order to execute on strategy, they need a product supply that can adapt to today’s economy.

It also speaks to how much disrupting forces have changed the way the beauty industry operates. Today’s customers are more empowered than they’ve ever been. We are aware of the ingredients we put into our bodies. We are able to trace our ancestry with mail-in kits. We are able to connect with the brands directly and follow their every move.

These agents of change can represent new market opportunities, but present challenges for keeping product supply in check. Consumer goods companies have recognized the need to adjust manufacturing operations to compete in a new world.

For CPGs to maintain existing brands, integrate additional SKUs, and expand market opportunity, they must enforce agility into their operations. Big companies are no longer relying only on internal 24/7 manufacturing workflows. Instead, they are integrating outsourcing models that can adapt and scale as the market dictates.

The Economics of Personal Care

In the 1990’s — when fanny packs were in vogue and the radio was still the podcast of choice, most big-branded personal care lines were manufactured in-house. Each CPG had a network of factories capable of handling mass production of well-known products. Confidence in outsourced manufacturing was positive, but generally used for temporary demand surge or as a way to handle more mature, declining product lines.

During this period and into the next decade, the industry saw a wealth of mergers and acquisitions. Loyalty towards brand name products was high. Then, during the global economic downturn of 2008, things changed.

Higher priced brands plummeted. Consumers switched to private label equivalents. CPGs began consolidating plants to cut costs, accelerating the pace of production through contract manufacturers. Then, as the economy recovered and online retailers surged, contract manufacturers grew again by accommodating large CPGs and the upstarts they acquired.

The Outsourcing Model

One of the most critical needs of any product manufacturer is capacity. The entire slate of capabilities of a plant — manufacturing, filling, packaging, quality assurance — needs to be available when product is in demand. At the same time, it’s costly to keep operations ‘on retainer’ while waiting for the market to fluctuate.

Contract manufacturers are able to provide capacity to CPGs whenever it is needed. They have similar factory setups as their customers and have integrated an array of best practices seen by the world’s biggest brands. They can offer solutions to challenges both large and small.

Through this ability to produce and scale, contract manufacturers like Accupac can help companies stay nimble and respond more quickly to new ideas and formulations.

Contract manufacturers make about 1 out of every 7 personal care and cosmetic products worldwide.² In 2018 it was a $17.1 billion industry. CMs are poised to help the industry adapt to change, and provide opportunities for new companies to break through.

Here are challenges an outsourced workflow can help with:

The Influencers

Before Y2K, the world’s biggest brands were aligned with Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell. Today, skin care is sold through likes, follows, trendability, and online stars like @jamescharles and @Zoella. These social players dominate the conversation around what products to use. Their millions of followers account for a collective audience that is deeply loyal to their opinions.

These customers — millennials among the lion’s share of them — are feeling more connected to the brands they trust. Hashtags have the power to bring change to outdated ingredients, and customer service is as easy as a DM.

CPGs are in turn seeking brands that speak to customers in a more personal way: products that are trendworthy, represent a new generation, and are socially responsible. They need to be able to add SKUs to their product lines without disrupting the existing operations of their other brands.

The Me Generation

We are more in tune with our physiology today than any other point in history. We know more about our heritage, our demographics, and our well being. We can send out for DNA results in a week and research chemical compounds on our phones. So we seek out products that conform to our ethnic, dietary, or social specifications.

These opinions that we form are far reaching. Our connection with social networks makes it easy to voice our opinions, unite behind a cause, and influence the corporate values of the brands we trust.

This often leads to reformulations of existing products. One only has to look back to the removal of parabens, or the boycott on palm oil as examples of how self conscious consumers have affected change. With the scalable workforce CMs have in place, companies are better prepared to test, verify, and deploy updated lines in order to compete for consumer mood.

An Expanding Worldwide Market

Our global economic footprint is changing every day. International brands are breaking through new markets and expanding product supply with regional varieties. The result of all of this is a global personal care product market estimated to be valued at $716.6 billion by 2025.⁴

Companies know that their products are finding success in new markets and are opening up new channels of distribution. This means more demand for product, but also demand for operations that can handle multinational validation requirements.

Contract manufacturers who have success in helping CPGs adapt to a global distribution model will place emphasis on proper quality control units and chemists who understand governmental regulations around the world. They also employ customer service teams who are adept at spearheading production through the hurdles needed to meet deliverables. They can often reduce headaches down the road by providing solutions to challenges before they affect operations. They can also cut start up costs for establishing product supply in new countries.

The point to all of this outlook is to reinforce the idea that in order to remain relevant, CPGs need a source supply that’s ready to support business change. In-house operations can be slow to adapt, but contract manufacturers have the capacity and knowledge to combat supply chain disruptions.

We might not know what the personal care landscape will look like in five years, and that’s exciting. We do know that the value of personal care will continue to grow and facilitate change from all angles. That’s why brands who integrate hybrid manufacturing workflows today are already preparing for what’s to come tomorrow.