How Beauty Consumables are Taking a Bite out of China’s E-Commerce Market
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…and there’s plenty of appetite for international brands. From collagen gummies to beautifying drinks, we look at the biggest opportunities in China’s nutricosmetics sector.
Instead of reaching for a handful of cheese and onion crisps, beauty-conscious consumers in China are instead choosing snacks that promise to satisfy and beautify. Supplements designed to deliver aesthetic outcomes are a major trend in the country’s booming e-commerce market.
These types of skin-boosting snacks might be a niche market, but it’s one that experts say will be worth $3.7 billion by 2022.
And like other products – cosmetics, skincare and luxury fashion, for example – there’s a distinct preference for international nutricosmetic brands, and in particular, those hailing from the UK.
Read more: How UK Retailers Can Capitalise on China’s Demand For ‘Brand Britain’
It’s all part of a larger trend towards wellness in China. The country’s middle class is growing in numbers and is spending online more than ever. This combined with a post-pandemic focus on health has resulted in surging sales of products designed to help image-conscious Chinese consumers look and feel their best. And increasingly, they are looking for beauty from within.
In fact, as reported by Vogue Business;
“In its 2020 Women’s Quality of Life Trends Insight Report, CBNData indicated that, for women born in the 1990s, the anti-ageing war is being waged from inside to out, extending beyond basic skincare products to diet management and general wellness.”
Consumable beauty products are the ultimate must-buy for these types of shoppers. The Chinese love of snacking as well as the promise of smoother/brighter/younger/more-radiant skin with each bite – and with little additional effort – is a combination too tempting to resist.
Hungry for more information? Here are further insights for brands looking to enter this lucrative niche…
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Beauty consumables trend 1: Mask and munch
The edible beauty (or nutribeauty) trend has even spurned a micro-trend of its own. Facial masking while snacking is just as the name suggests. Literally, applying a skincare-infused facial mask and, while it does its thing, eating a beauty snack.
One of 2020’s most talked-about collaborations in China was one from local beauty brand CHANDO and snack brand Pejoy. The skin-brightening snack pack included face masks from the former, and breadsticks from the latter – both of which contained niacinamide, a form of vitamin B known for its skin-brightening effect.
Beauty consumables trend 2: Eating for taste, not just beauty
Efficiency of a product, however, isn’t enough for brands looking to find success in this market. More so than in Western markets, Chinese consumers want edible beauty to not only be effective but taste good, too. Some evidence even suggests that beauty benefits are a bonus, but not the primary reason some consumers chose some of the most popular products available at present.
As well as often being presented in fun shapes – florals and bears, for instance – some of the most widely purchased products currently available in China include collagen-infused ice cream, peptide jelly and collagen sweets that taste as if they could come from an old fashioned sweet shoppe.
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Beauty consumables trend 3: First place: collagen
Ingredient-wise, collagen is the most popular in this market, with some products in this field outselling more traditional vitamin supplements.
“[Collagen is quickly gaining consumer recognition and becoming a mainstream edible beauty ingredient,” according to Cindy Dekeyser, global business intelligence manager at PB Leiner.
China’s recent approval of the use of sodium hyaluronate as a food ingredient, in addition to its use in supplements, is expected to fuel further growth of products with this anti-ageing ingredient. “More formulations that combine the use of hyaluronic acid and collagen in food and beverage can be expected in the Chinese edible beauty market,” Dekeyser predicts.
Beauty consumables trend 4: Age before beauty – or not?
Demand for skincare and beauty products overall is strong across most age demographics in China. Appetite for beauty consumables in particular, however, is far strongest among younger shoppers.
“Over 70 per cent of China’s beauty snack consumers are under 25, with the main objective being preventing early ageing rather than fixing issues,” according to a recent national health survey.
Because of this, brands seeing the strongest levels of success in this market are those whose products speak to these Gen Z consumers. This segment is notoriously ethically-minded, so brands with a sustainability and/or cruelty-free focus as well as delivering edible beauty benefits, for example, are seen as particularly attractive.
Read more: 5 Trends Dominating China’s Skincare and Cosmetics Industry in 2021 and Beyond
Beauty consumables in China: a market ready to be eaten
Nutricosmetics, nutribeauty, consumable beauty – whichever the term, there is no doubt as to its position as one of China’s growth beauty sectors. Luxury Chinese commerce experts Jing Daily sums up what this represents:
“Still holding great untapped market potential, the Chinese craze for beauty snacking represents a rare and exciting opportunity for international beauty players. Big beauty brands have yet to tap into this niche, but there is still room for innovative beauty snacks that provide novel and fun experiences for China’s growing base of beauty junkies. Brands can play up their creative side with innovative flavours, ingredients inspired by traditional Chinese medicine, and alluring packaging for consumers seeking something new.”
Ready to enter the market? Whether you need China-centric marketing or payment solutions, we can help.