Carving a niche in The Nigerian Makeup Industry
Introduction: The World of Beauty Today
For many centuries now, women and men have been wearing makeup. Although the styles have certainly undergone some changes over the years, the desire to look good has remained paramount. The origin of makeup– care substances that enhance the appearance of the human body – can be traced back to the ancient Egyptians and Greeks who used it for religious rituals, embellishments, medications and other purposes. Study shows that in the period of 10,000 BC to 4000 BC, many of the inhabitants of ancient Egypt employed the use of kohl for lining and defining the eyes, and as time went on this trend was exported to many other nations/civilizations. Throughout history, different civilizations have continually employed various forms of makeup cosmetics and toiletries to enhance appearance, scent and health. The commonly used products range from black eye liners and rouge (now called lipstick) to face powders and perfumes.
The makeup cosmetics industry has grown from its ancient roots to become a global multibillion dollar industry projected to reach $41.4 billion by 2015. Solid, dynamic and fast moving, it represents over 15% of the whole cosmetics industry with products such as face make-up, eye make-up, nail make-up and lip make-up. Face makeup cosmetics represents the leading market segment, with over $12 billion in sales revenue in 2010 and accounting for more than 35% of overall make up cosmetics market value.
The makeup market is highly segmented, making it hard to name one dominant player, however key players in the industry are big multinational beauty companies such as L’Oreal, Estee Lauder, Avon and Shiseido. Among the various players in the global cosmetic industry, L’Oreal is ranked as the number one beauty and cosmetics manufacturer.
The makeup cosmetics industry is largely supply driven with dynamic products and services, boosted by innovation. Major players such as Estée Lauder and rival L’Oreal have realized that the key to success lies in offering a variety of makeup productsthat cater to the varying preferences of different customer segments.
Another key factor that drives the industry is the quality of products and not necessarily price. Although quality is sometimes associated with products of established brands, over the years consumers have developed discerning perceptions that easily spot quality deficiencies even in established brands.
Despite the difficult global economic situation in 2008 and 2009, theglobal cosmetic market grew by a compound annual growth rate of 4.1% over the last fifteen years (as indicated in Fig. 1), showing its resilience to global economic meltdown.
The top growth markets are Brazil, China (emerging/new markets) and United states (mature market). While it can be said that Asia-Pacific and Western Europe have the largest share of the global makeup trade, Africa and the Middle Eastare regarded as emerging new markets thatare greatly influenced by the western culture, with strong potential for growth.South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya are the top 3 sub-Saharan nations with the highest demand for makeup products.
