'Lipstick effect' malfunctioning? The once popular lipstick has not been out of stock for a long time

"It's been a while since I bought lipstick." "Has there been a new color number recently? Not paying attention." At noon on August 10, in a fast food restaurant on Furong Middle Road, several young women were discussing.

In recent years, lipstick firmly occupies the "C position" of makeup industry, and each big brand often pushes new, can attract a large number of fans to book to buy. Among them, Star City counters have been out of stock for a long time, overseas purchasing continues to rise the sales phenomenon.

Under the COVID-19 epidemic, the new normal of the economy, with the "lipstick economy", can the sales of lipstick remain as strong as ever?

Lipstick is not out of stock, but sales have dropped significantly

"In the past, we used to run out of certain colors at the end of the month, but we haven't seen that in recent months." On August 10, peace Hall 51 square store MAC counter sales clerk told Sanxiang City Daily reporter, the brand in recent years to supply enough, often out of stock before the hot color now have spot can buy.

Also at the Dior cosmetics counter on the first floor of the mall, popular color numbers such as 999, 888 and 704 were not out of stock as had happened before. The counter guide said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the sales of lipsticks in the counter had not been as good as before. "In the early months of this year, the decline was particularly pronounced, and only after June and July did sales start to recover to some extent."

The reporter found that compared with the lipstick counter before there are always three or two to test the scene of customers, the major shopping malls were placed in the front of the lipstick test table slightly cold.

The slowdown in lipstick sales is not confined to China. According to data released recently by McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm, which tracks sales on Amazon.com in the United States for the four weeks to April 11, retail sales in the cosmetics category "lip care and gloss" fell 15 percent in the period. Not only did it fall the most, but prices also fell 28 percent.

McKinsey estimates that if a second wave of the pandemic continues this year, global beauty sales could fall 20% to 30%, with lipstick likely to be the hardest hit category.

Nail polish, eye shadow and other makeup items are in demand

When economic growth slows, the cost of living is under pressure, but lipstick always sells. This interesting economic phenomenon is known as the lipstick effect. Under the impact of COVID-19, face masks have become necessary equipment for people to go out on a daily basis. And that seems to have had a direct impact on lipstick sales.

Interview, a number of different brands of cosmetics sales consultants are mentioned, lipstick sales volume and heat of collapse, and outbreak of COVID - 19 influence, this kind of unit price is relatively cheap but counterpart red can let a person feel cheerful enthusiasm of consumer goods in reducing, on the one hand, on the other hand, there are aesthetic fatigue is more related to reduce the frequency of daily use lipstick.

So is the lipstick effect malfunctioning? An interesting phenomenon is that the reporter of Sanxiang Metropolis Daily also found that although lipstick is "out of favor", the sales of single products such as nail polish and eyeshadow have increased significantly year-on-year. Public data from Tmall show that as of July 2020, nail polish sales on the platform rose 179 percent year on year.

And in the perfect diary country gold Street store, guide, the brand koi eyeshadow plate "sold very hot, has been out of stock" until last week, just available to the store, "even if the official e-commerce platform to buy, also need to pre-order, is not in stock."

Ms. Deng, who is in her early 20s, also said in an interview that she had bought a special lipstick online for only 30 yuan this year. "But I have done my nails four or five times," she said. She bluntly, anyway, go out to need to wear a mask, lipstick is useless, but prefer to do nails, "can show out, feel the money is worth."

"The 'lipstick effect' may become 'nail polish effect' and 'eyeshadow effect', but the essence is still the same. Consumers, especially women consumers, need some cheap pieces to please themselves in the new normal economy, and inexpensive makeup pieces are a better choice." Insiders believe that although the name may have changed, but the essence of the "lipstick effect" has not changed, "it is still a truth that everything will change."