Consumers such as teenagers, workers in their 20-30s and women have recently joined the balding community, and related businesses are evaluating the market as a “blue market.”
According to industry sources on Nov. 19, the market size of products to treat hair loss has grown 13-fold to a whopping 2 trillion won for the past five years. In fact, the number of teenagers suffering from hair loss caused by stress from studying and irregular lifestyles has increased 30 percent for the past three years.
Products to fight hair loss had been mainly released by pharmaceutical companies, but as the market expanded, eco-friendly and Oriental herb products have gained popularity.
Sales of Reo made by Amore Pacific, which entered the market in 2008, has jumped 141 percent for the past one year and ranked No. 1 in the domestic hair loss shampoo market share.
Sales of Re-en produced by LG Household and Health Care grew more than 40 percent last year from a year earlier. “We selected actress Go So-young as a model for product promotion in order to attract more female customers in their 20-30s,” says a company spokesperson. “This year‘s growth is expected to be over 30 percent.”
Denggimuri recently rolled out “Jin-gi-hyun,” which is made with 19 Oriental ingredients such as ginseng, memomile and platycladus leaves. The company expanded its production line to products other than shampoo, such as conditioners, hair root tonics, hair nutrition packs and hair essence.
In an attempt to break the perception of “hair loss products=Oriental medicine,” AeKyung launched “Esthaar,” a shampoo product made with natural sprouts. “As the market for hair loss products grew, it seemed like all related products were focusing only on Oriental ingredients. We targeted a niche market where consumers wanted other choices,” a company executive said. “We are expanding our market share with our eco-friendly product image and by attracting young women who dislike the strong scent of Oriental ingredients.”
As the balding population increases, beauty businesses are also swiftly responding to the change.
"In the past, people who were concerned about baldness used to go to scalp clinics, but now they purchase self-products from road shops or cosmetics stores,“ the executive said. ”This means that the products have become diversified and people have more accessibility to hair loss products.“ LG Health Care’s “Beyond” launched “Healing Force Series,” comprised of products like shampoo and scalp essence.
"As the public interest in appearance increases and with women accounting for almost half of the balding population, famous celebrities are modeling for the products,“ a company official said. ”Scalp-related products are also becoming segmented ranging from scalp scaling, essence, tonic, ample to hair aging prevention.”
"The growth potential of the hair loss product market is infinite and in the case of Oriental products, it is a sector where foreign products cannot compete. Therefore, competition between domestic brands is fierce,” he added.
By Ayaka Erin Tobari
Aju Business Daily intern
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