India eyed as huge market for Pinoy-made cosmetics

CEBU, Philippines — Filipino manufacturers of beauty and personal products are called to seriously look into the huge Indian market.

This is the suggestion made by The Euromonitor Digest, the online publication of the Export Management Bureau of the Department of Trade and Industry.

But before penetrating the fast growing market for beauty and personal care in India, companies are advised to make careful study to customize their products intended for this particular nationality.

According to Euromonitor report, Filipino beauty and personal care companies can customize their products in innovative ways to enable them to seize or increase share of the huge Indian market.  

India's overall beauty and personal care market is expected to register strong growth over the next five years especially after its government implemented Goods and Services Tax (GST) which removed cascading effect of taxes, thus helping boost sales of such products. 

The tax slabs were revised based on demand from the industry after a couple of months of GST implementation during the second half of calendar year 2017, and almost all beauty and personal care products were placed at slabs below the prevailing tax rates.  

The Philippines has a growing pool of beauty and personal care manufacturers, such as Belo Essentials, organic products manufacturer Human Heart Nature, Happy Skin, among others.

Cebu in particular also has dozens of beauty and personal care manufacturers like

GT Cosmetics, IPI Pharmaceuticals, the upcoming Salon de Rose Essentials, Prisca Beauty and Cosmetics, among others.

Euromonitor stated that the GST move is expected to largely benefit the volume consumption of beauty and personal care products, as brands are expected to pass price cuts on to consumers. 

This will enable consumers to trade up as well as increase the consumption of beauty and personal care products over the forecast period.

Product innovation and customization are set to increase consumption until 2022, and are key factors aiding sales of beauty and personal care products.  

"With consumers becoming more experimental and seeking value-added benefits, companies focused on expansion by introducing new innovative products. The rationale behind this strategy was to broaden their customer base by tapping into both the mass and fast-growing premium segments," it said. 

The report further said that growing disposable incomes and rising aspirations are expected to lead more companies to launch innovative and customized products across both premium and mass beauty and personal care.  Bath and shower and hair care will continue to dominate in value terms.