China’s hair care sector is booming. According to Euromonitor, from 2019 to 2023, the hair care market in China grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.7 percent. Foreign brands accounted for the majority of high value sales.
Many lifestyle KOLs in China have switched from sharing their daily skincare routines, to focusing on their scalp and hair – and the process can be just as complicated as a skincare regime.
To prepare to go out, 33-year-old Xiaohongshu influencer ChenChen (@陈陈) starts by brushing her hair, then massages a few drops of serum into her scalp. Then she wets her hair and applies a scalp cleaner for two minutes before washing it out. Next she washes her hair with shampoo and then conditions it for 10 minutes before rinsing.
Chen’s dedication to head care garnered attention online. Her post on the steps she takes amassed over 15,000 likes.
“A key trend we are seeing in the Chinese market is surging interest in scalp health. There are over half a million instances of user-generated content instances related to the topic on Xiaohongshu, extending routines with before and after wash care. It is much about functional and health expectations rather than an aesthetic, good looking outcome,” says Dao Nguyen, founder of Essenzia ByDao, an agency dedicated to fragrance and beauty brands.
Jing Daily looks at the consumer demographics adopting a more holistic approach to hair care, analyzing their behavior, and how they are reshaping the industry.
Premium hair care consumers#
“Over the past 18 months … we’ve seen a bifurcation of consumer demand in China. You are seeing a continuous trend in both directions: consumers that look for value for money, and ‘the lipstick effect.’ Even in times of economic downturn some consumers splurge on premium products,” says Adam Knight, co-founder of Yaso and Tong, two social commerce agencies focused on China.
The Gen Z cohort is a strong force in the premium hair care sector. Notably, the young generation is experiencing hair loss 20 years earlier than previous generations.
Liu Haier, communication and insights manager at marketing agency The Chinese Pulse, believes that the phenomenon is mainly due to China’s grueling “996” work culture, which entails 9am-to-9pm shifts, six days a week.
“People tend to lose hair due to intense pressure. Hence, taking care of the hair and scalp takes on a new importance to prevent hair loss, and it can also contribute to relieving fatigue, by relaxing the body and mind,” says Liu.
Another reason she cited is hair damage caused by fashionable hairstyles and dyes.
Key players#
According to the China Association of Health Promotion and Education, nearly one in six Chinese people suffer from hair loss. This demographic is significant, comprising some 250 million people. Thus, China presents a lucrative market for hair care brands.
The market is still dominated by fast-moving consumer goods (FMGC) giants, like P&G and Unilever – the former leads in China with 34 percent market share.
Yaso’s Tong says: “The reason for the continued dominance of these large multinationals is that we are still in the relatively early stage of hair care ‘skinification.’ Consumer education is still needed and only groups with deep pockets can do that.”
He points to growing opportunities for second-movers that can provide niche products.
Thanks to rising scalp health awareness, consumers in China are investing in hair growth serums, scalp care oils, vitamin-infused shampoos and organic conditioners. As per e-commerce platform JD’s findings, online sales of high-end shampoo products priced at $17 (120 RMB) grew more than 114 percent year-on-year in 2023.
Liu notes that premium hair care consumers mainly comprise urban women between 25 and 39-years-old residing in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities.
In 2020, Olaplex launched in China and went on to become the number one hair care brand on Tmall Global. Another brand making headway is Kérastase, which accounts for 16 percent of Tmall’s scalp care sales. Celebrity hairstylist-founded Ouai has nearly 68,000 followers on Tmall and 9,000 followers on Xiaohongshu.
Key trends#
The ‘skinification’ of hair routines, treating hair like their skin with many hair care products, is emerging as a trend.
“Consumers adopting this type of routine are typically knowledgeable about skincare, transferring these use patterns to scalp and hair care routines,” says Nguyen.
This involves hair care routines becoming refined and complex. From the usual shampoo and conditioner it extends to scalp scrub creams, hair masks, hair essences, and many more.
‘Skintellectuallisation’ is another trend that’s growing in China. It encompasses consumers’ increasing awareness of products’ functionality and ingredients, says Tong.
Not only do consumers look to products that can solve specific hair problems, targeting different types of hair, they seek additive-free formulas to ensure product safety.
Hair care based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is also taking off in China. Many consumers believe that eating certain foods like black sesame and washing their hair with TCM ingredients can yield good results, opening up a space for local brands to get in on the action.
Consumers are looking for more than just cleaning their hair. They want a soothing sensorial experience that relaxes and heals them from a long stressful day, says Liu.
Distribution channels#
While offline stores enable brands to provide consumers with an intuitive and immersive experience, such as Sisley’s hair spa at its Zhang Garden Store, e-commerce remains the dominant sales channel.
E-tailers and social platforms not only raise brand awareness and drive sales, but are also educating consumers.
“Hair care’s exposure through social media and e-commerce is multiplying. Premium hair care is a very brisk market and I expect it to move as much as fragrances and bath lines,” Says Nguyen.
Cross border e-commerce platforms like Tmall Global and JD Worldwide provide a shortcut for emerging direct-to-consumer brands to access the Chinese market. Oribe, owned by Kao, a luxury haircare brand that charges $80 (500 RMB) for a 250ml bottle of shampoo, opened its official Tmall Global flagship store in 2021 and has nearly 11,000 followers so far.
“Over the past two years, Alibaba’s beauty and personal care sector has been in decline. Once it accounted for 50 percent of total online shopping market share, now it is at mid-30-percent. New platforms, like Douyin Pinduoduo are instead representing the biggest opportunities in the Chinese e-commerce space,” says Tong.
Another option is livestreaming. A slow-paced version is taking over the high-end skincare and hair care segment.
“Live-commerce has given consumers more niche choices,” says Liu. Livestreamer Zhang Xiaohui successfully helped haircare brand My.Organics to get to be known by Chinese consumers.
Livestreamers and KOLs play a crucial role in educating consumers about China’s nascent hair care sector. To reach homegrown shoppers, hair care brands need to collaborate with beauty and lifestyle influencers.
C-hair care#
“R&D and formulation are key in the hair care industry. Hence it is not easy for new players to enter the field from scratch,” says Nguyen.
However, she believes that as with skincare, local beauty brands will ramp up in the near future.
“There are already lots of initiatives, like Kimtrue and Off & Relax,” she says.
Changing perception and consumers’ increasing willingness to trust the quality of local products is helping, as is the belief that homegrown labels better understand Asian scalps and hair.