Saudi Consumer Skincare Segment

A changing landscape where consumer decisions are highly driven by social recommendations.

Skincare consumption in Saudi Arabia are still driven by traditional habits but international trends have been impacting consumer behaviors.

• 20% of the beauty products are prescription based &purchased in local pharmacies while it used to be the vast majority 10 years ago.
• KSA consumers are keen on discovering and testing new brands: 90% of beauty-related searches are category related.
• Women are increasingly educated on ingredients & formulas and focus on quality and limited product routines.
• Beauty is traditionally a very social practice: recommendation & approvals from peers are key drivers of brand and product consideration and it reflects on social media usage.
  • Over 300M skincare queries on Youtube & Search yearly, a 69% growth vs 2 years ago. 60% of consumers watch a video before making a beauty-related purchase (against only 25% in the UK).
  • Brands use social media platforms to identify raising trends (ie: skintoks on TikTok).
  • Retailers identify rising brands through batch orders made on international websites.
  • People in Saudi spend an average 55 minutes per day on YouTube.
• Unlike in more mature markets, Skincare is still mostly considered for correction purpose and not prevention unlike in most mature markets.

Purchase decision-making is influenced by social recommendations, promotions, and in-store experiments.

• Word of mouth: still a key driver of purchase decision. To maximize its impact brands should use influencer content to create ads that feels more organic & relatable.
• Price sensitivity: a “good deal” perception is key to trigger purchase decision Tactical use of GWP, purchase, samples is highly impactful.
• Strong ROPO effect: as the offering is diversifying, discovery and testing happens in store, sometimes followed by an online purchase. According to Google 2022 Smart Shopper. Research 60% of Saudis made their last purchase online for beauty products.