Hair colour purchasing falls, most bought in supermarkets
New research from Roy Morgan shows the number of Australians buying hair colour has been on the decline with only 15.4% of Australians purchasing hair colour in an average six months in the year to March 2019, down 2ppts from four years ago.
As a result, the frequency of purchasing has dropped as well, with the number of customers who purchased monthly or more frequently falling by 1.1ppts to 2.2%, and those purchasing every 2-3 month down 1ppt to 5.1% compared to four years earlier.
Women more than three times more likely to buy hair colour than men
Women represent over three-quarters (76.4%) of hair colour customers with 23.2% of women buying a hair colour product in an average six months compared to only 7.4% of men.
Hair colour customers also skew towards middle-aged consumers, with 19.9% of 35-49 year olds purchasing a hair colour product in an average six months – the highest incidence of any age group, totalling almost 1 million customers and representing 31% of the total hair colour market.
An additional 38.3% of the hair colour market is comprised of customers aged over 50 years old, with 14.4% of 50+ customers buying a hair colour product in an average 6 months.
Hair colour customer breakdown by age – 12 months to March 2019
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), April 2018 – March 2019 (n=14,722). Base: Australians 14+.
Supermarkets the outlet of choice for hair colour products
The leading places Australians purchase hair colour products have seen drops in demand for the product consistent with the general drop in the category compared to four years ago.
Supermarkets remain easily the most popular location for Australians to buy hair colour products and over the last four years have consistently maintained between 8-9% of Australians buying their hair colour products in supermarkets which represents roughly 52% of total hair colour purchases.
Chemists and pharmacies such as Chemist Warehouse and Priceline are the other big players in the market with between 4-5% of Australians buying hair colour products at chemists or pharmacies representing just over a quarter (26%) of the market for hair products.
The remainder of the market is split between Department stores, Discount Department stores and newer online retail channels such as Amazon which comprise around a fifth of hair colour purchases.
Michele Levine, CEO of Roy Morgan, says:
“Hair colour products have seen a gradual decline in recent years, with only 15.4% of Australians now buying a hair colour product in an average 6 months. This represents a decrease of 0.2ppts from the same time last year, and 1.9ppts from four years ago.
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Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
