Five beauty category trends in travel retail and how to leverage them

By Faye Bartle | Wednesday, 28 August 2024 10:48

Leanne Nutter at the TR Consumer Forum 2024 in Dubai (third from left). Photo: TRBusiness/Dreambox Creative Consultants, UAE.

In this exclusive feature, Leanne Nutter, Retail & Brand Director, Blackjack, tells TRBusiness about the top five trends the company is pinpointing in the beauty category in travel retail and shares her best advice on how best to capitalise on them.

The rise of Gen Alpha

We are seeing a greater share of Gen Alpha consumers – born 2010 to 2024, so currently aged up to 14 years old – shopping the beauty category in travel retail. We are noting that they have more spending power than you may think, as they are saving up their pocket money to get their hands on popular brands. Coupled with the pester power this generation can exert on their parents means that this demographic is becoming an important source of revenue.

Their interest in fragrances, skincare and make-up is partly being fuelled by social media crazes, especially on TikTok. Popular brands among this age group, from our perspective, include Paco Rabanne and Jean Paul Gaultier, among others. A great example I witnessed was a team of young footballers passing through Heathrow recently, creating a hive of excitement around the beauty areas – and they all picked up a premium fragrance to purchase.

This is in addition to this generation becoming increasingly savvy about ingredients and looking for vegan, non-toxic products, including a preference for oil-based fragrances (rather than alcohol-based ones). There has been some criticism and concerns that Gen A is too young to covet beauty products from some brands, but times are changing. There are a number of leading brands with a playful, vibrant branding that appeals to multiple generations. It is important, of course, to communicate which products may or may not be suitable for certain age groups so that consumers can make informed choices.

Top tip: The younger generations are increasingly curious about beauty brands and savvy about ingredients. Relevant brands can embrace this and capitalise on demand with investment in shelf space/pop-ups with vibrant, engaging activations alongside clear communication on their target market, where appropriate.

Bodycare is the break-out sub-category of 2024

In travel retail, there has traditionally been a heavy focus on fragrances, skincare and colour cosmetics with haircare being an up-and-coming sub-category. However, we are seeing that bodycare brands are commanding more space in the channel. A case in point is Sol De Janeiro, which is executing some brilliant pop-ups and activations at airports that really resonate with shoppers.

The bodycare products market is projected to register a CAGR of 5.23% during 2022-2027, according to Mordor Intelligence, with Asia Pacific the fastest growing market and North America the largest market (based on an estimation in 2023).

Top tip: Retailers should consider putting bodycare products, tips and advice front and centre to draw shoppers into the beauty zones. As these products can naturally come in larger formats, specially curated travel kits can prove popular. Brands can leverage the growing appeal of bodycare with the aim of recruiting consumers through their wider ranges.

L’Occitane Travel Retail is running a three-month-long global airport tour of its Sol de Janeiro ‘Unleash Your Summer Self!’ campaign from July to September, complete with with immersive, sun-kissed 360-degree activations and vibrant in-store animations.

Colour make-up is boldly back, inspired by a 90s revival

Blackjack is noticing a preference among travelling consumers for colour make-up. This is especially true for lip products. The trend is primary fuelled by a resurgence of looks from the 90s in terms of using liner and with shades of browns, beiges and taupes being popular once again.

This also extends to bolder shades for eyes, adding sparkles or gems for special occasions – which does hold some relevance for travellers heading to events such as music festivals – and products for brows with a thinner, arched shape being back on the radar.

Top tip: Trends come and go, but beauty stakeholders in travel retail can benefit from being agile and leveraging these with flexible displays that showcase trending products and offering experiences that bring current beauty trends to life, to drive conversion.

Gamification amps up engagement

It’s no secret that gamification is one of the most effective engagement tools in the channel. It appeals to men and women, as well as younger generations, and we have found it to be particularly effective in the beauty arena.

We recently worked on an activation with Charlotte Tilbury for the launch of her first ever fragrance range. Using augmented reality (AR), there was a digital discovery, in the form of a treasure hunt for shoppers at Stansted Airport, which involved scanning a bespoke QR code, taking travellers on a journey through the store and into the IDL, with image recognition, and unlocking the individual immersive worlds associated with each fragrance. The final step was taking the customer back to the counter for their complimentary gift. This created a lot of fun around fragrance, especially among Gen Zs.

There are so many options to look at, from fun quizzes to puzzles, creative challenges and activities to complete to quality for prize giveaways.

Top tip: Beauty brands can benefit from introducing gamification to raise awareness of new launches and build excitement around products or special promotions. The key is that it needs to be authentic by having a purpose to it, so make sure it is highly relevant and that it is an extension of your brand identity for the best results.

A shopper enjoys a ‘Glow Up’ as part of Avolta’s Depart from the Everyday summer campaign at Stansted Airport.

Focus on experiences as price savings become more challenging

In the beauty category, we are noticing a rise in consumers showrooming – checking out the products in the stores and seeing if they can purchase them for a lower price online. It is becoming increasingly challenging for brands to offer a price saving in travel retail as domestic retailers offer discounts to be at their most competitive. We are seeing this now with summer sales, for instance. It is affecting other categories in the channel too. This stresses the importance of offering a great experience, alongside value, to drive footfall and conversation.

We have seen some incredible activations recently, such as Avolta and Manchester Airport Group’s ‘Depart from the Everyday’, summer campaign which gives rise to a variety of instore experiences, including entertainment and smaller sites, such as a beauty glow-up station.

While space can be challenging, brands are also proving the power of small but perfectly formed retail experiences.

Top tip: However new, exciting and beautifully crafted your experience is, having highly knowledgeable, motivated promotional staff to represent brands at the point of sale will play a key part in its success so make sure you have this nailed.

This feature first appeared in the TRBusiness August/September ezine. Click here to view.