Chinese men paying more attention to personal care
By Ying Junyi
02:20

With an increase in purchasing power in China and the growing awareness of personal care among men, the male beauty market in China shows a huge growth potential.

A report from research firm Euromonitor shows that the Chinese male beauty market increased at an average annual rate of 13.5 percent between 2016 and 2019, far higher than the global average of 5.8 percent.

The growing demand and the increase in sales are spurring retailers to bring in more skincare products for men.

"Our suppliers are offering more skincare products for men, and we are also stocking up more products from other brands," said Cho Minsu from retailer group City Super.

Cho added that sales volume of men's products so far has risen from 10-20 percent year on year.

Experts say that the growing demand for men's skincare products will encourage cosmetics companies to develop more products specifically for the men's market.

"A lot of the unisex products lines do offer a wider portfolio or choices for the consumers, while the men-specific products tend to be two-in-one or three-in-one. We do believe that in the future, among younger consumers, there will be greater product adoptions especially for very specific product lines for their specific usage occasions," said Jason Yu, managing director of Kantar Worldpanel, global expert in shoppers' behavior.

Yu also noted that livestream promotions as well as the wide use of social network platforms such as Xiaohongshu, also known as RED, will also contribute to the growing popularity of men's skincare products.

Meanwhile, consulting firm Allied Market Research predicts that the men's personal care industry should be worth $166 billion by 2022 globally.