Lockdown impact: Grooming products register '5X growth' in sales

New Delhi, May 31 (IANSlife) Self-grooming is all the rage right now; everyone is happy to join in, from actress Anushka Sharma giving her beau a stylish haircut, to Alia Bhatt allowing her trusted inner circle to chop her locks and even the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, taking to hairstyling to groom her little ones at home during the lockdown.

As people choose to groom and beauty themselves in the safety of their homes, the business of grooming products is raking in the moolah.

Products like hair dryers, hair stylers, hair curlers, hair straighteners, body grooming kits, and most importantly, trimmers and men's shavers, have been flying off the shelves - causing a brand to register a massive spike in the sales figures. "There is an increased demand for grooming products such as trimmers, hair styling tools across both men and women categories. Our trimmers and hair dryers continue to be top sellers for us. In fact, we have registered 5X growth vs our original sales speed for trimmers (post Covid-19)," Sharath Nair, Business Head - Lifestyle Business Group, Panasonic India told IANSlife.

"What I see is that the lockdown has created a behavioural change in consumers, and that has fueled this personalised trend for grooming. We definitely see positive impacts in the short to mid term, long term is something time will tell us."

Restricted within the confines of their homes, people are making the best use of their electronic companions to support themselves in their daily chores. With the lockdown, grooming sessions that were previously outsourced to neighbourhood salons and barber shops have become a personalised DIY activities.

According to the spokesperson, the overall demand for stylers like straighteners and curling irons is high, but the exponential growth for grooming products - like trimmers - is much higher. Speaking on the supply of equipment to salons, he shares that while sales in salons have definitely been impacted because of the lockdown, "it is more than being made up by the natural demand coming from personalised buying. It has become a family thing, and also an individual thing."

Interestingly, personal grooming during this phase has been more of a need than a choice! But the question is will it become a habit so that even after opening of salons and spas, people choose to groom themselves.

This grooming experience has also allowed people to experiment with their looks at no extra cost. Asked if they saw a region-wise differentiation, Panasonic said that regions that have normalized faster have shown higher sales trends, across most electronic purchases.

(IANSlife Features can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)

--IANS

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