In this guest column, Rituals Director Global Travel Retail Neil Ebbutt says that travel retail should rethink its core categories and give wellbeing a chance to shine. He also illustrates how Rituals is seizing opportunities with fast-growing product sectors like home, sleep, hair care and men’s grooming.
Over the last 18 months, there have been numerous changes in people’s lives and while some have undoubtedly been negative, others – like the increased focus on our health and wellbeing – have been for the better.
According to McKinsey’s Future of Wellness survey, the value of the global wellness market is estimated at more than US$1.5 trillion, with annual growth of +5% to +10%. Put simply, consumers care deeply about wellness and that interest looks only set to grow.
In a survey of roughly 7,500 consumers in six countries, 79% of the respondents said they believe that wellness is important, and 42% consider it a top priority (McKinsey Future of Wellness). Consequently, consumers are increasingly aligning themselves with brands which reflect their lifestyle choices, are purpose-driven, and which are more in tune with health and wellbeing.
Wellbeing – a new category in travel retail?
While we are beginning to see the introduction of health & wellbeing products in travel retail, to date the offer is limited and these products don’t have clear visibility. With wellness broadly covering six sub-categories – health, fitness, nutrition, appearance, sleep and mindfulness – the category’s potential for driving conversion in travel retail is huge.
The industry is going through a period of reflection in the wake of COVID-19 and the way in which we do business is being scrutinised, with new models, product offers and online shopping all being explored. Thus, now is a real opportunity for our channel to rethink the ‘core’ four categories and acknowledge health & wellbeing as a category in its own right.
Taking Rituals as an example, we are typically grouped within Perfumes & Cosmetics, however we are much more than a beauty brand. As Rituals Founder & CEO Raymond Cloosterman famously said: “We are not here to sell you beauty, we are here to make you feel good.”
Raymond’s words still ring true today in our philosophy of being a wellbeing brand that is all about slowing down and finding happiness in the smallest of things. It is our passion to help people turn everyday routines into meaningful moments and bring balance between body, mind and soul. With that balance and connection, we strive to achieve the ultimate form of wellbeing.
In 2022 we’ll introduce an evolution of this philosophy, ‘The Art of Soulful Living’, a new take on a holistic approach to good living, where we touch on all the important pillars: from physical and mental to spiritual.
As a relatively untouched category, Rituals is primed to take ownership of wellbeing in travel retail by bringing to life ‘The Art of Soulful Living’ at every travel touchpoint – enhancing the traveller’s wellbeing wherever, whenever and however they travel. The upcoming product launches across our core categories support this vision and underline our commitment to innovating in the wellbeing space.
Home fragrance
The rise in home fragrance sales as a result of people looking to create a relaxing sanctuary at home has positively impacted our business and we are seeing a huge increase in demand in all markets. For example, in China, the home category comprises 50% of all our sales in the country and we will soon be launching a Home collection that will be available exclusively in Hainan duty free, House of Rituals and ecommerce.
Due to the popularity of the category, we recently relaunched our Classic Home Collection to include attractive new packaging which is more easily recyclable.
Sleep care
Sleep care, another wellbeing sub-category that has risen to prominence, is a key focus for Rituals. We are all aware of the importance of sleep and its tremendous influence on how we feel – physically as well as mentally. When we sleep poorly, there is almost nothing in our body that doesn’t suffer.
During the pandemic, there has been a clear demand for products that help improve the quality of sleep. In the UK alone, sales of sleep aids and wellness products increased by 219% during the first lockdown last year. Globally speaking, the sleeping aids market is forecast to reach US$163 billion by 2030 – growing at a CAGR of 7.1% (P&S Intelligence).
Our Ritual of Jing Sleep line, which features products dedicated to promoting a better night’s rest, has performed very well in domestic and travel retail markets over the last year – demonstrating the significance that consumers are putting on sleep health.
In Asia Pacific, Sleep is one of our three key assortment pillars and we will continue to champion the importance of sleep health.
Men’s personal care
Also linked to wellbeing is men’s personal care – a sector which has experienced a big rise in sales over the last couple of years due to heightened interest in issues such as health, body-image, self-grooming and hygiene.
The global men’s personal care market size was valued at US$47.5 billion in 2019 and is expected to increase at a CAGR of 6% from 2020 to 2027 (Grand View Research).
With an eye on this burgeoning market, we are working on some exciting developments to our Ritual of Samurai line to target this consumer group. We will be revealing more early next year.
The haircare opportunity
Another category sitting within self-care is haircare, which has a 22% share of the cosmetics market and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.6% between 2021 and 2028 (Fortune Business Insights).
In recent years, haircare has gradually been given more visibility in travel retail and there is clear opportunity for further development due to new consumer requirements. Consumers today are on the lookout for more efficient and novel products including ones that help protect against UV rays and pollution, soothe the scalp and restore hair’s moisture balance after a day in the sun or hours spent on a plane.
At Rituals we are committed to making haircare more sustainable by using natural ingredients and packaging that is easily recyclable. We will be unveiling some significant updates to our haircare offer next year as part of our Clean & Conscious campaign, including product formulations that are of 90% natural origin and shampoo and conditioner bottles made from 100% mono-material polypropylene with a hot foil cap – instead of aluminium – to lower the CO2 footprint.
Now that travel is re-starting, we must ensure that our channel reflects the new consumer landscape and offers a relevant product assortment that supports travellers looking to make informed, meaningful choices at every step of their journeys. Consumers globally are clearly willing to invest in products that support their health & wellbeing and the sector shows no signs of slowing.
With wide-ranging products and sub-categories, wellbeing offers universal appeal and an abundance of opportunities to draw travellers back into duty free stores. It is a versatile category that has demonstrated its potential in domestic markets and should soon be making its presence more widely felt in travel retail.
Note: The Moodie Davitt Report has launched an e-newsletter, Wellbeing Curated, in association with Rituals. It offers a curated selection of stories focused on the key wellbeing category in travel retail and beyond.
To subscribe free of charge please email Sinead@MoodieDavittReport.com headed ‘Curated Wellbeing’. All stories are permanently archived on this website. If you would like to be added to its mailing list (or to those for any other Moodie Davitt titles), please click here.
