Filipinos buying more personal care products, Kantar says

Filipino shoppers are filling their shopping carts with more personal care products, according to a recent study by Kantar Worldpanel.

Kantar’s study, which tracked shopping behavior of 3,000 Filipino homes in urban and rural areas across the Philippines from June 2014 to June 2015, found that purchases of personal care items increased by 11 percent over the period—faster than the growth in purchases of household care items (7 percent), food (6 percent) and beverage (5 percent).

The same study also found that 15 out of 21 categories of products that fall under the personal care megasector grew by at least 5 percent.

“This growth is a clear manifestation of the Filipino shoppers’ high regard for hygiene and beauty products,” said Lourdes Deocareza, new business development head, Kantar Worldpanel Philippines in a statement.

“In fact, within the personal care megasector, we’ve found that Filipinos are prioritizing skincare products (hand and body lotion, facial care, liquid soap and bar bath soap), hair care products (shampoo, conditioners and treatment) and oral care (toothpaste and toothbrush). In addition, they are also spending more on rising categories namely, wipes, colognes, diapers and deodorants,” Deocareza added.

This growth was pushed by purchases across all socio-economic classes, as even Class E homes were now open to buying “more sophisticated personal care products” like liquid soap, wipes and cosmetics.

“In addition, penetration of key personal care products increased significantly with 720,000 more homes buying liquid soap and 611,000 more homes purchasing cosmetics,” Kantar said in a statement.

Where did Filipinos buy their personal care products?

Looking into distribution channels, the study found sari-sari stores were the go-to sources of these products with 35 percent of personal care sales, while supermarkets and hypermarkets accounted for 34 percent. They were followed by grocery stores (7.7 percent), direct sales channels (6.5 percent) and drug stores (5.8 percent).

The growth is not a surprise at all—in fact, it is a reflection of aggressive marketing of these products on various platforms, including digital media, Kantar also said.