FIT’s global research reveals evolving beauty trends and upcoming market opportunities

27 Jun 2023 --- The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), US, has released research from its “Beauty Think Tank,” unveiling ways the industry should adapt to consumers’ and employees’ evolving preferences. The global research reveals upcoming growth opportunities and emerging markets, which personal care businesses can leverage.

By researching the current outlook of the global economy, FIT students found that over the next ten years, growth and longevity in the beauty industry will be hard to come by as the barrier for business entry becomes lower, and the landscape becomes more competitive.

The research is part of the university’s Beauty in a Shifting Global Landscape, a two-part study conducted by FIT cosmetics and fragrance marketing and management class of 2023. The study examines the future of the global consumer and talent in the beauty space. 

The cohort completed six months of global research that included quantitative and qualitative studies in India and the United Arab Emirates and over 100 interviews with leaders and experts across the beauty, fashion, technology, pharmaceuticals and entertainment industries.

Students from FIT researched business opportunities in the beauty industry. Leveraging a growing market 
In the first part of the study, students propose looking at India as a new global power. The study calls India an “emerging hotspot with significant long-term potential.” This is due to the country’s expanding middle class, a disproportionately large younger generation and solid economic prospects driving increased per capita spending on discretionary goods.

Economic opportunities are apparent as India’s GDP growth last year was 7%, making it one of the world’s best-performing economies. India is projected to be the world’s third-largest economy by 2030. Regarding space for cultural growth in the beauty space, pillars such as Bollywood, weddings, yoga and Ayurveda show India’s unique culture of beauty rooted in tradition. 

In recent news, Estée Lauder Companies eyed India’s start-up ecosystem to foster new beauty brands and artists. Meanwhile, Unilever spotlighted the nation as one of the “world’s fastest-growing markets” for consumer goods, highlighting that its business in India is reportedly present in nine out of ten households.

From “silver spenders” to modern AI
Another group FIT recommends the personal care industry target is people over 60 – which will make 50% of the world’s total population by 2030. The students identified this consumer segment as the most under-represented and overlooked in the beauty industry while holding roughly 50% of the global net worth. The research refers to this demographic as the “silver spenders.” 

On the trend of AI, the FIT students recommend incorporating algorithmic solutions into beauty companies. The research says we are in a world of recommender-driven commerce platforms, and it is essential for businesses to be utilizing recommender system optimization (RSO). This system uses Big Data to recommend products to consumers.

Personal care brands should use their platforms to identify unlikely and strong connections between brands and cultural moments and use them to their advantage for engagement suggest the researchers.

Personal Care Insights recently spoke to EveLab Insight and Haut.AI about dermatological innovations, which are driven by efficient algorithms that can rapidly detect specific skin issues and suggest solutions.

Additionally, the research endorses developing a marketing budget to support the RSO strategy. When determining why or how to invest in connections, the key is to remember that a company’s expenditure is feeding the recommender system and strengthening the relationship between the brand and a theme. 

Employee recommendations The Future of Global Talent team leaders Juan Benedetty, Emma Gothner and Blass Freed present at FIT.
The study also provides an overview of the state of the beauty industry in attracting, retaining and growing talent while analyzing critical practices through case studies across industries and markets.

The cohort conceived a new talent management platform, “Career Cosmo,” that holistically evaluates talent. The platform aims to provide transparency between employees and employers with growth accountability, skills measurement and mobility mapping, aiding employees in their career development and encouraging more strategic succession planning. 

The personal and professional aspects of the Career Cosmo platform are values and aspirations; skills and opportunities; personality and style; and experiences and background.

According to the research, employees at all levels within the beauty industry recognized the opportunity to optimize the role of human resources (HR) departments. The students found the main focuses of an HR department should center around coaching, acquisition, rotation, exploration and services. 

Coaching refers to employee empowerment, while acquisition focuses on recruiting talent. Rotation pertains to strategically organizing employee mobility, experience and succession. Exploration is for creating personalized learning plans. Lastly, the service’s recommendation is housing essential human resource functions, both internal and outsourced, such as payroll, benefits, compensation and company policies.

The last employee-related opportunity identified by FIT was for businesses to establish a global beauty talent collective to develop initiatives to grow the pool of incoming and prospective employees and retain them – creating a stronger foundation for the industry’s future. 

By Sabine Waldeck