March 2023: Online facial cleanser sales increase despite sluggish offline retail
In March, facial cleanser brands saw positive revenue growth on the e-commerce platforms Lazada and Shopee, despite sluggish offline retail sales, according to a new report by YouNet Ecommerce Intelligence (YouNet ECI).
Several brands experienced double-digit revenue growth:
The report by YouNet ECI utilizes revenue data collected daily from 5,793 shops selling facial cleanser products on Shopee and Lazada Vietnam, including 670 mall shops and 5,123 sellers generating revenue in March.
YouNet ECI utilized big data combined with AI technology and industry know-how to classify SKUs and accurately calculate revenue (based on Gross Merchandise Value) and market share of each brand. AI also eliminated any abnormalities or possible frauds to uncover true purchasing power on e-commerce platforms.
Results show that in March 2023, the facial cleanser industry achieved a total revenue of VND 86.49 billion on both platforms, an increase of 13% compared to the previous month.
YouNet ECI’s analysis shows that the trend of this industry on online channels remains positive, contrary to recent reports of sluggish growth of large retail chains. This accurately reflects the trend of consumers shifting towards online shopping.
As the owner of the most accurate dataset in the market regarding e-commerce revenue of brands, YouNet ECI has also revealed the top-selling facial cleanser brands on both Lazada and Shopee. They are CeraVe (with a combined GMV of 12.39 billion VND), SVR (9.11 billion VND), Simple (8.06 billion VND), Cetaphil (7.52 billion VND), and La Roche-Posay (6.38 billion VND).
Top 5 best-selling facial cleanser brands on Shopee and Lazada in March 2023, Source: YouNet ECI
All five brands experienced double-digit growth in March, with Cetaphil leading the pack with a 71% increase in revenue in just one month. The growth was driven by the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser product line, which alone brought in 7.42 billion VND GMV, accounting for 98.7% of the brand’s revenue in March.
In addition to the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser, other facial cleanser products with impressive revenue growth in March include La Roche-Posay Effaclar Deep Cleansing Foaming Cream (up 62%), Simple Daily Skin Detox Purifying Gel Wash (up 60%), and CeraVe Cleanser (up 49%).
Top 10 best-selling facial cleanser variants on Shopee and Lazada in March 2023, Source: YouNet ECI
Shopee dominates market share while Lazada experienced fast growth thanks to Birthday Mega Sale:
According to YouNet ECI, Shopee currently holds 86.8% of the total e-commerce revenue in the facial cleanser category in March. Among this, 42.3% of Shopee’s monthly revenue came from Shopee Mall shops, while the remaining 57.7% came from regular sellers.
In contrast to Shopee, YouNet ECI noted that on Lazada, 74% of facial cleanser revenue came from official LazMall shops.
The promotion activities of LazMall during Lazada’s Birthday Mega Sale proved positive and helped increase the total GMV of the facial cleanser category on the platform by 24% in March.
However, although Lazada has experienced rapid growth, only one Lazada shop appears in the top 10, while the remaining nine belong to Shopee. The leading shops are Shopee Mall shops of Unilever, CeraVe, and La Roche-Posay.
This accurately reflects the trend towards shopping from official stores on both Lazada and Shopee. Therefore, brands need to pay more attention to the operation of their official shops on e-commerce platforms to create growth, especially with the sluggish results of the traditional retail market, per YouNet ECI’s suggestion.
Top 10 best-selling Shopee and Lazada shops in the facial cleanser category in March 2023, Source: YouNet ECI
Simple’s (Unilever) gift-with-purchase strategy:
In March, Unilever’s official shops show a laser focus on boosting sales of Simple facial cleansers.
On Shopee, Unilever Vietnam’s official shop for Health & Beauty topped the list of facial cleanser shops with a GMV of VND 5.42 billion.
On Lazada, Unilever Beauty Care’s official shop increased its revenue by a whopping 177% and entered the top 10 best-selling shops in March (ranked 6th).
These two official shops played a leading role in helping Simple increase its GMV by 25% in March.
Furthermore, Simple facial cleansers were actively used by Unilever as a gift-with-purchase for customers buying other products.
Thanks to the advanced filtering function for gift-with-purchase products, the EcomHeat e-commerce data analysis platform from YouNet ECI discovered that Unilever’s official stores gave away 7.66 thousand Simple products to customers on both Shopee and Lazada in March.
These gifts-with-purchase mainly included Simple Moisturising Facial Wash – a moisturizing facial cleanser suitable for the upcoming hot season.
About YouNet Ecommerce Intelligence:
YouNet Ecommerce Intelligence (YouNet ECI) is a pioneering product and service in data intelligence for e-commerce brands in Vietnam, providing the most in-depth information.
YouNet ECI Services’ deep analysis supports brands in understanding market trends, detecting strategies to increase market share, and improving operational efficiency through our reports, including:
- Research and understanding of market trends
- Analysis of product portfolio
- Evaluation of the effectiveness of Mega campaigns
- Analysis of brand visibility on e-commerce platforms
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