The
NPD Group, Inc.,
released results on the total prestige beauty gift set industry Tuesday morning
revealing that in the U.S., overall sales of gift sets in prestige department
stores year-to-date (January to October 2012), grew a whopping 16%, versus the
same time last year. The $871 million beauty gift set industry includes women’s
and men’s fragrance gift sets, as well as skin care and makeup gift sets.
By
category, sales of men’s and women’s fragrance sets grew 10%; skin care gift
sets grew 23% and makeup gift sets grew 26%.
Karen
Grant, vice president and senior global industry analyst, The NPD Group,
attributes the spike in gift set sales to their “stress free” status for the busy
shopper.
Fragrance
sets continue to be the ‘go-to’ gift set for the holiday season, said NPD, and
represent 34% of total prestige fragrance sales annually.
The
top three fragrance gift sets year to date are Light Blue 2 piece Spring Set,
Acqua Di Gio Pour Homme Travel with Style and Light Blue Pour Homme Father’s
Day Set.
Three
trends are emerging among gift set shoppers. The first is that high-priced,
anti-aging skincare gift sets are not the only option anymore.
“This
season the skin care gift set arena is again being dominated by new sonic
technology,” said Karen.
The
top three selling skin care gift sets are Clarisonic Mia Skin Cleans Pink Set,
Clarisonic Mia 2 Sonic Cleans System Pink Set and Clarisonic Mia Cleans Travel
Lavender Set.
And,
sets are not just about value.
“They
are treasures that are hard to resist and are worth the investment,” said
Karen.
Lastly,
heading into holiday, NPD saw some shift in the preference of stores that offer
makeup kits that ethnic and younger consumers shopped in. Makeup artists and
alternative brands, especially those associated with younger consumers, are
experiencing tremendous growth in makeup sets.
The top three makeup gift sets
are Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette Set, Urban Decay Naked Palette Set and Bare
Escentuals Customizable Get Started Kit.
