Beauty brands are losing out to lower priced ‘dupes’ and own label. How can they salvage sales?

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There’s been a sea change in beauty. Products that would once have been dismissed by fashionistas as cheap knock-offs are now all the rage. A new generation of shoppers is actively seeking out ‘dupes’ – purse-friendly duplicates of established lines.

Online retailers such as Dupe Shop, Skinskool and Match Fragrances are doing a roaring trade, offering cost-conscious consumers affordable takes on high-end brands. Social media is helping to fuel the trend, with #dupe currently at 5.3 billion views on TikTok.

Meanwhile, mainstream brands are struggling in the mults. Branded suncare and skincare volumes are up just 0.1% [Kantar 52 w/e 21 January 2024]. At the same time, own label is up 10.7%.

How much of these divergent performances is down to dupes? How big a threat are they to the category’s leading brands? And how can those brands fight back?

Dupes are nothing new, of course. The discounters have been churning out copycats of everything from cakes to crisps for years. See Lidl’s Hampstead Gin that aped Hendrick’s Gin, and Aldi’s Cuthbert the Caterpillar Cake, which bore an uncanny resemblance to Colin the Caterpillar by Marks & Spencer.

Now, beauty is a growing focus for Lidl and Aldi’s product developers. “Our perfume range is carefully crafted to offer the absolute best quality at market-leading prices, and we hope our customers love the campaign as much as they love our incredible perfumes,” said Lidl chief customer officer Peter de Roos in February. He was hailing the launch of the discounter’s Suddenly and G Bellini fragrance lineups. The four scents retail for £5.25/75ml and bear striking likenesses to those from Dior and Chanel.

“Beauty is a growing focus for product developers at the discounters”

Lidl wasn’t duping only brands. Cheeky ads claimed Suddenly and G Bellini were worn by Robbie Williams, Chris Pratt, Adele and Shakira – all of whom were actually Lidl staff who share names with celebrities.

A month after Lidl’s launch, rival discounter Aldi grew its own beauty offer with selection of haircare and skincare dupes of high-end brands such as Elemis, Pixi, Glossier and Benefit, for as little as £2 a pop.

beauty personal care cosmetics social media phone makeup

Other retailers appear to have been duping, too. Take M&S Apothecary fragrances, which have been compared with markedly pricier lines from Mark Jacobs, Chanel and Le Labo.

These same retailers are ensuring none of their duping activity goes unnoticed on social media, of course. Lidl says views of content tagged ‘Lidl Viral Perfume’ has more than 724 million views on TikTok.

M&S has also been causing a stir on the platform, racking up millions of views in the past year for content related to its fragrances.

“M&S is an interesting retailer in this space,” says Melissa Chapman, CEO of social media publisher Jungle Creation. “They have fantastic own brand products, but it was the virality of their dupes that made a number of product lines blow up for them last year.”

Such copycat lines are taking off partly because the brands being aped lack cachet with younger consumers, suggests Paul Greenwood, head of research & insight at creative agency We Are Social.

“Generation Z is not driven by brands, but by lifestyle, making them the key driving force behind the success of dupes,” he says.

“The speed of social media has significantly disrupted traditional trend cycles, meaning newness is the new currency, with dupes acting as the perfect solution to satisfy that desire for newness. Dupes do not require significant investment from consumers but still enable them to participate in their desired trends at pace.”

  • Own label is winning share of skincare and suncare. Overall value sales of branded products have grown 13.4% to just shy of £1.3bn on volumes up just 0.1%. Own label, meanwhile, is up 34.7% in value to £521.1m on volumes up 10.7%.
  • “The success of own-label personal care brands can be attributed, in part, to online trends and the evolution of ‘dupe’ culture,” says Kantar analyst Ruth Fallon. Own label has “seen major success with offering cheaper alternatives to prestige products”.
  • Boots should take a bow, Fallon says. In March 2023, it added what it claimed was the “world’s first super-peptide range” under its No.7 own brand. “The launch has seen extensive success, growing to hold a 10% spend share of the total facial skincare category,” she adds.
  • “This influx of sales has been a key contributor to own label’s 43% value increase in facial skincare. The launch has helped to increase Boots’ hold of the personal care category, with value share increasing 9.1% year on year to 45.7%.”
  • The “softer” value growth of brands is largely driven by suncare’s 18.3% increase in average price per pack, Fallon explains.

make up shopper Sephora

Mainstream beauty enlists celebs

In effort to keep up with that pace, established names in mainstream beauty have sought assistance. Boots No 7, for instance, has enlisted an army of influencers, such as Love Island’s Jess Harding and Molly Smith, to spread the word about its products online.

It seems to have worked. The pharmacist achieved 9.1% value growth in suncare and skincare sales in the past year, the fastest rate of any major mult, discounter or high street bargain chain.

Brands would be advised to follow Boots’ lead, says Chapman. “Brands need to think like an influencer or publisher, have a network of consistent ambassadors because people follow people, create social-first content (not ads) and be part of trends that will support virality. Brands absolutely have the authority to drive the conversation in an organic and authentic way. “The other key is community,” she adds. “The products that go viral do so because influencers with existing engaged communities rave about them.”

“Gen Z is not driven by brands, but by lifestyle – the key force behind dupes’ success”

And there’s no shortage of viral trends to tap. There’s the term ‘glass skin’ increasingly used to describe a complexion so flawless it resembles glass; make-up techniques such as dot contouring with a straw; and aesthetics inspired by last year’s Barbie movie.

Indeed, that cinema blockbuster is a salient example of a shift in beauty trends. “We’re seeing a blurring between the beauty and popular culture worlds,” notes Chapman.

“Barbie-core nails and looks were a huge trend we saw, as well as Beyoncé Renaissance Tour nails. Both are another way for brands to stay relevant and target a group of superfans with their products.”

beauty and personal care toiletries aisle supermarket cosmetics shopper

Cutting through the noise

Chapman also believes brand partnerships have become “increasingly evident” in shaping beauty trends. She notes Pretty Little Thing’s current collaboration with Krispy Kreme on a limited-edition doughnut. With pink glaze and unicorn-style decorations, it demonstrates “how unconventional pairings can garner attention and cut through the online noise rapidly”.

Unilever, on the other hand, has stuck to a more conventional pairing. This year, its Tresemmé brand was the official haircare partner of the Brit Awards. “By tapping the passion points of our shoppers, like music, we can capture a highly engaged audience and keep Tresemmé top of mind,” says Unilever haircare marketing lead Carly Burford.

Much of that audience can be found on social media – which “has always been a great way to reach our shoppers to educate them on our products, showing how they work and the fantastic results they can achieve”, she adds. “Social activity continues to be a priority platform for the brand, especially TikTok.”

A key focus of social activity for Tresemmé is its Lamellar Shine range, added in February. “Shiny hair is a current trend, and we’re seeing everyone from celebrities on the red carpet to social media influencers showing off their perfectly glossy hair,” says Burford.

“Barbie-core nails and looks were a huge trend. It’s a way for brands to stay relevant”

As well as being able to tap trends, investment on social also makes sense given the growing number of outlets making scientific claims about their affordable duplicates.

Skinskool and Dupe Shop, for example, claim to use teams of industry experts to study product formulae and suggest comparable alternatives to shoppers.

“With sites like Skinskool comparing ingredients and recommending product alternatives, brands need to stay close to their R&D teams and educate consumers as to why certain ingredients and thorough product development costs more,” says Becca Marchant, social associate director at comms agency M&C Saatchi Talk. “In doing so, brands might stand a chance of riding the dupe wave and maintaining status.”

  • Unit sales of the UK’s top five haircare brands are looking lank. The likes of Elvive and Tresemmé are down 6.1% in total.
  • The only two to have shifted more packs in the past year are Aussie and John Frieda, which have delivered respective growth of 10.4% and 1.7%. “Impactful promotions, strategic price adjustments, and the introduction of new products have played pivotal roles,” says NIQ analyst Chandni Singh.
  • Haircare’s top five have seen their combined value rise 8.4% to £336.7m – but that’s largely down to higher average prices.
  • “As consumers navigate economic challenges, maintaining affordability while delivering value will be pivotal for brands,” Singh says.
  • It’s a similar story in skincare. Simple and L’Oréal are the only top five names to have sold more units. The former brand is up 3.8% while the latter has grown packs by 4.5%.
  • Olay has suffered the greatest loss of the top five in both value and volumes, They’re down 1.7% and 11.8% respectively.
  • The fact significant promotions for Olay haven’t spurred unit growth signals an “ineffective” strategy, says Singh. “Distribution challenges and dwindling demand have compounded the struggles.”

make up shopper Sephora

Pulling the rug on dupes

Another way for brands to ride that wave is to take the initiative by duping themselves.

That’s what haircare brand Olaplex did last year, when it sent Oladupé No 160 to influencers. The fake product was named after the number of patents protecting the real Olaplex No.3 Hair Perfector.

“Keeping up with trends is never easy as social moves so fast, but we have already seen brands lean into this trend and demonstrate creativity,” says We Are Social’s Greenwood. “Olaplex rug-pulled its own community, championed its range, and decried the unsavoury business practices of its competitors.”

When other high-end brands take a similar stand against lower-cost copycats, they should follow Olaplex’s lead and “shine an even brighter spotlight on their own product quality”, he adds.

“It’s up to brands to authentically showcase their ‘undupeable’ qualities”

Sam Budd, CEO & founder of creative agency Buddy Media, agrees. “Olaplex replicated its own products to prove that only they could reproduce their one-of-a-kind technology. Through playful education, they reaffirmed the irreplaceability of their unique technology, garnering five million TikTok views in just three days,” he says.

Therein lies the definitive solution to the dupe problem, says Budd. Brands must educate shoppers on why their products are worth paying extra for. “The bottom line is that it’s up to brands to leverage their deep understanding of their clientele to craft campaigns that authentically showcase their ‘undupeable’ qualities.”

Imitators, take heed: beauty shoppers may soon not be so easily duped.

How prestige beauty lines perform in a recession

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Leonard Lauder must be pleased. The phrase ‘lipstick effect’, which the Estée Lauder heir and former chairman is credited with coining, is apt right now. Hard-up cosmetics shoppers are seeking small luxuries.

“In line with previous recessions, spending across most beauty and personal care categories remains buoyant, with consumers remaining willing to invest in their appearance and turning to these products to lift their spirits,” confirms Mintel beauty & personal care category director Samantha Dover.

Indeed, Circana figures show the prestige beauty market grew value 10% to hit £3.2bn in 2023, with unit sales up 6% [52 w/e 31 December 2023].

And analysis from Mintel shows prestige beauty buyers are brand loyal: 87% stick to products they know work well and 35% of UK adults regularly use six or more prestige beauty products.

But that doesn’t mean the category is completely recession-proof. “In our latest consumer sentiment survey, 31% of consumers in the UK advised that, over the past six months, they had sought cheaper alternatives,” says Circana account director Emma Fishwick. “Due to the premium and desirable nature of prestige beauty products, combined with an average selling price of £38, some consumers have traded down in certain categories.”

Mintel’s analysis reveals 66% of prestige beauty consumers have cut the number of products they buy. “While people aren’t abandoning the category, they are becoming more selective,” says Dover.

That’s also evident in 2023 research by Mintel, which found 42% of prestige beauty shoppers purchased dupe versions of their favourite products.

That suggests brands should step up efforts to highlight formulations and offer loyalty rewards in response, says Dover.

Otherwise, the likes of Estée Lauder will have less to smile about in the year ahead.

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