The Consumer Products Division continued to grow worldwide driven by its winning strategy: providing innovative, high-quality products that are affordable for the broadest possible audience. Thanks to its iconic and committed brands, the Division is democratising beauty at its best – beauty that is cutting edge, inclusive and sustainable.
What ingredients have led to the success and historic sales achieved by the Consumer Products Division? Alexis Perakis-Valat, President, Consumer Products, takes a look back at 2022 highlights.
More and more consumers are looking for products that are both desirable and accessible, highperforming and responsible. We’re perfectly positioned to amplify and ride the wave.
The Consumer Products Division posted its best growth in 20 years: +8.3% like-for-like and +14.6% reported. The Division’s growth was driven by innovation and sound valorisation, without sacrificing volume. All major brands outperformed the market, thanks to successful initiatives in the different categories. Makeup was the Division’s fastest growing category. By Zone, North America and Europe saw very robust performances. At the same time, growth accelerated significantly in Latin America and SAPMENA-SSA, with remarkable performance in high-potential countries such as Mexico, India and Brazil. This more than compensated for the challenging market conditions in China, where the Division accelerated its market share gains in the fourth quarter.
In the face of growing demand for increasingly highquality, innovative products, the Consumer Products Division is pursuing its premiumisation strategy by making highend products affordable, and constantly innovating in a supplydriven market. The brands democratise high valueadded innovations that are carefully formulated by the Research & Innovation teams.
Following months of lockdowns and restricted movement during the Covid19 pandemic, the Division capitalised on the “lipstick effect” in 2022. This trend, observed in the wake of crisisinduced uncertainty, has resulted in restored interest in simple pleasure products, like lipstick. The entire beauty market is affected by the phenomenon, but it has been particularly impactful in the makeup category, which recorded sales above prepandemic levels. This success reflects an underlying trend and is also underpinned by cuttingedge innovations and powerful activations orchestrated by the brands.
The Division accounts for two-thirds of the Group’s products in terms of volume and plays a key role in L’Oréal’s sustainable transformation. Its contribution to achieving the targets set by L’Oréal for the Future is crucial. The Division has rolled out several large-scale initiatives:
– in recycling, 70% of PET is recycled, which saves 26,800 tonnes of virgin plastic each year.
– in reducing plastic use in packaging, with the enhanced revamp of Ultimate Blends and increased availability of refill systems.
– and in consumer information, with products displaying their social and environmental impact score audited by third-party bodies. L’Oréal Paris and Garnier have already begun including this score on their haircare and skincare products.
Vitamin C is a must-have active ingredient in skincare, with a wide range of benefits. It promotes a radiant complexion and combats blemishes, which are the number two consumer skincare concern worldwide. Garnier seized the opportunity to create its Vitamin C skincare range – including a cleanser, a sheet mask, a serum, a gel and a micellar water – and to roll it out in several markets. The serum has been a major success in South-East Asia, where it grew four times faster than its category. In the Gulf states, it climbed to the top spot among consumer products serums in just two months. And in Europe, where the range is currently being rolled out, it aims to win over several million consumers.
Faced with the profusion of beauty products available in supermarkets, consumers sometimes struggle to make choices. The Division is working hard to turn their purchasing experience into a comprehensive introduction to its products by rolling out new concepts in points of sale around the globe. It aims to make its offer clearer, showcase products with mask bars and display cases dedicated to serums, and provide an omnichannel experience linked to online brand activations. The results have been positive. Participating points of sale in Latin America have seen +20% growth in sales, for example. Given this success, L’Oréal is also implementing this strategy in the skincare category with the Dermatological Beauty Division.
