Original title: sunscreen awareness and temperature rise together, and segmentation products drive diversified demand (introduction)

The weather turns hot, and the "sunscreen economy" sets off another "billowing heat wave" (theme)

Worker's Daily - Yu Qianqian, reporter of China Industrial Network

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As the weather turns hot, there are not a few "fully armed" pedestrians on the streets of many cities. In recent years, driven by the Internet, people's awareness of sun protection is accelerating. At the same time, some enterprises have arranged the "hard sun protection" track, and the "sun protection economy" is heating up.

In recent years, with the rising temperature and sunshine intensity, consumers' demand for sunscreen, sunscreen clothing, sunshade and other sunscreen products has also continued to rise, and the "sunscreen economy" has ushered in its own "home time".

Sunscreen awareness is promoted to promote "sunscreen economy"

"Good sunscreen, black and old." When asked why she is keen on sunscreen, Ms. Guo, 95 years later, who works in Beijing, replied. The reporter saw Ms. Guo holding a sunshade, wearing a sunscreen suit, covering her face with a "face Gini", and wearing sunglasses on her nose... She told the reporter that she lived far away from her work and had a long commute every day. If she did not do a good job of sunscreen in summer, she was afraid of causing harm to her skin.

Walking on the streets of Beijing, the reporter found that there were many "fully armed" pedestrians like Ms. Guo. "Sunlight will make the skin appear black spots." Sun Qiuning, chief physician of the Department of Dermatology of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, explained that strong ultraviolet rays will break collagen, especially after people reach middle age, ultraviolet rays will accelerate the destruction of skin fibers, thus accelerating the aging of skin.

In recent years, driven by the Internet, more and more people have learned about "photoaging", and their awareness of sun protection has also accelerated. Sun protection has become an indispensable part of skin care in daily life. Search for keywords such as "sunscreen" and "anti light aging" on social platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Weibo, and the number of relevant notes and posts has reached one million, and the number of topic readers has reached 2.5 billion, including "light aging" knowledge and science popularization, skin care experience sharing, sunscreen product evaluation, sunscreen clothing and other content.

The promotion of public awareness of sunscreen has added fuel to the already hot "sunscreen economy". According to the White Paper on China's Sun Protection Clothing Industry Standards released by iResearch, the market size of China's sun protection clothing and accessories will reach 67.5 billion yuan in 2022, and it is predicted that by 2026, this figure will be close to 95.8 billion yuan.

Enterprises have arranged "hard sun protection" track

The reporter visited many shopping malls in Beijing and found that in beauty shops, sunscreen, spray and other products can occupy three to four shelves, with more than a dozen brands. The shopping guide told reporters that since April, the number of people coming to consult and buy sunscreen products has increased significantly. On the e-commerce platform, sunscreen products have become "hot money". Search the "sunscreen" keyword on an e-commerce platform, and more than 1 million people have paid for the product ranking first.

Compared with 2023, the heat of the sun protection market has only increased this year. According to the data released by the official digital trade platform of Yiwu International Trade City in early May this year, the number of sunscreen shops in Yiwu International Trade City will increase by nearly 40% in 2024 compared with the same period in 2023, and sunscreen masks, ice sleeves and other products will be the best sellers.

Some enterprises have also arranged the "hard sun protection" track. In addition to the lightweight outdoor brand Jiaoxia, which started with sunscreen, the Changfu brand Bosideng, Taipingniao, the northern side of the outdoor brand, Pathfinder, the sports brand Li Ning, Anta, and many other businesses have launched products with the concept of "sunscreen+".

"What is worth buying" Yang Xuejie, the head of the beauty industry, believes that this year's "618" beauty care cosmetics consumption is not only related to festivals, but also shows obvious seasonal characteristics. On May 20, within 4 hours of the opening of the "618" promotion activity, the trading volume of platform cosmetics and skin care related products increased by 391.39% and 532.79% year on year respectively. Among them, depilators, sunscreen and isolators have become hot items, demonstrating the strong consumption power of the "summer economy". In addition, the "sunscreen clothing", a sub category that broke out in recent years, has greatly boosted the women's clothing market. In the first four hours after the "618" was launched, the top five products of women's clothing trading volume were sunscreen clothing. Jiaoxia, Uniqlo and Haggis became the preferred sunscreen brands for users.

"Refined" demand drives market upgrading

The reporter also found in the interview that at present, consumers' functional requirements for sunscreen products are not limited to basic protection. Ms. Li, a post-60s citizen, told the reporter that she had more leisure time after retirement and often went out to play, with a high demand for sunscreen. But in summer, "fully armed" is very hot, and photos are not beautiful, so she would prefer to choose "ice silk" sunscreen clothes. The emerging sunscreen skirts and suits in the market are also favored by Ms. Li because of their fashionable appearance.

After 70 years of shopping in the sports brand area, Mr. Li said: "Usually there are more outdoor sports, running a step and riding a bike, occasionally climbing mountains, and the sun can't stand the direct sun." He said that when he purchases sunscreen products, he pays more attention to their professionalism in adapting to outdoor scenes, such as high sunscreen coefficient, lightweight fabrics, waterproof materials, etc.

The refinement of consumer demand has given birth to diversified commodities. More and more brands have entered the "sunscreen circle", and the sunscreen market has further upgraded.

At the "soft sunscreen" track represented by sunscreen, a large number of brands launched products with different effects, such as oil control and acne elimination, moisturizing, vitamin C anti-oxidation, to meet the needs of consumers of various skin types. At the "hard sun protection" track, under the trend of sun protection clothing constantly penetrating into the whole population, the product line for men and children was upgraded under Jiaoxia this year.

Industry insiders pointed out that consumers of different genders and ages have a demand for sunscreen, the vitality of the male sunscreen market is gradually improving, and the public has raised higher expectations for the diversification and scenario of sunscreen products. From the trend, differentiated population and refined demand will further expand the size of the entire sunscreen market.