South African men buy into personal care

©Tomas Anderson via 123RF

Locally, research conducted by Spark Media suggests that South African men have become increasingly interested in products specially developed for their needs, and are increasingly likely to shop for their own personal care products.

Spark’s 2016 Roots research found that 98% of men bought personal hygiene products in the past month. The proportion of men using hand and body cream increased from 77.2% in 2010 to 82.5% in 2015, more so with black males, of whom 85.9% used hand or body cream in the last seven days (AMPS 2010 vs 2015).

Smelling good is as important to men as looking good; premium men’s fragrances grew by 16% in 2016 (Euromonitor). AMPS research has shown that perfume and cologne use has increased among men long-term, with 53.3% of men being regular users. A high-quality fragrance is associated with career and social success, and has become an increasingly popular gift for men.

According to Euromonitor, South African brands, such as Sorbet, have jumped onto this trend. Sorbet Man offers exclusive men’s grooming treatments, and the chain has a Sorbet-branded men’s grooming range of skin and hair care products.

Lack of medical schemes

Although men are health conscious when it comes to their physique (54% of frequent gymmers, going at least once a week, being men), a concerning statistic to come out of Spark's Roots 2016 research is that 92% of urban males in LSM 4-7 are currently not on a medical aid scheme, and almost half (47%) of LSM 8-10 aren’t either. Spark Media says this opens a huge opportunity for healthcare providers to educate and build product awareness in this market.

Men’s grooming is forecast to maintain strong sales growth. A ramp of new male grooming product development is expected in 2018 and 2019.