The global pandemic impacted the cosmetics and beauty (C&B) industry in a variety of different ways.

According to data analytics platform StyleSage, “Consumers visited brick-and-mortar stores, the primary channel for selling C&B products, much less often while e-commerce for some consumer products was booming. It’s undeniably challenging to offer essential personal services to sell C&B products online, such as product testing and skin color matching. Meanwhile, working from home, wearing masks, and other lifestyle changes have resulted in a significant shift in consumers’ demand for C&B products.”

While the pandemic created a “new normal” that’s left many companies struggling, a handful of others are feeling positive about the future.

Case in point: A global research and innovation leader behind some of the biggest names in cosmetics.

Reasons to be optimistic in C&B

The company, with 5,500 employees and offices and research centers in 11 countries, experienced 11% growth in net revenues in 2021—despite supply chain and other issues.

As for 2022, “This year should be the year of make-up’s comeback to 2019 levels,” says the President and Founder, Dario Ferrari. “The ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) market in which we operate is fueled by the entry and success of private labels and emerging brands. Including influencers, singers, celebrities [for whom we can create] make-up lines. Color cosmetics will grow in Asia as the new generation is using more make-up and some have a lot of money to spend. Europe is a mature market, but the US is always a strong make-up market.”

As business activities stabilize, Ferrari anticipates growth in several areas.

“Skincare amounted to around 20% of our revenue in 2021, Hair & Body was 18%, while Make-up accounted for 62%. The agreement we recently signed between our group and Dolce & Gabbana Beauty will allow us to further accelerate the development of our youngest business unit, Hair & Body, created in 2017 with the acquisition of Cosmint. Skincare is the segment that is expected to register the fastest growth in the coming years, a trend that already emerged in 2020 and 2021. However, make-up will remain our number one category. We are a world leader in make-up, with more than a 10% market share.”

The right tools make it easier to flourish in times of uncertainty

The company relies on its state-of-the-art research and development laboratories to create technologies and materials for superior and exclusive formulations and is proud to be a leader in top quality formulas worldwide.

It’s no small matter, then, that the organization chose Trace One Devex PLM for Cosmetics—a suite of customized PLM templates created specifically for cosmetics’ manufacturers’ NPDI needs—to help it navigate industry hurdles and maintain its leadership position.

Trace One Devex PLM is modular and configurable, with linear and intuitive solutions that reduce time spent to confirm data accuracy, improve quality and reliability, ensure compliance on critical legislative requirements, accelerate product launch, and help users stay updated on required template changes for compliance documentation.

Delivering beautiful results 

By making it easy to connect labeling and other product lifecycle necessities to the very start of product development, Trace One Devex PLM empowers companies like this global cosmetics manufacturer to achieve ambitious goals and stay ahead of the competition. This kind of agility is key for meeting consumer demand, especially in uncertain times.