How To Optimise Your Product Mix With Consumer Trends

How to Optimise Your
Product Mix with

Consumer Trends and
E-Commerce Data
Not to be distributed without permission.
This playbook uses the terms “attributes”

and “claims” interchangeably to encompass
product attributes (e.g., scented), claims (e.g.,
energy boosting) and ingredients (e.g., CBD) on
packaging or within a product description online.
Legislation of claims by country and ingredient

are outside the scope of this playbook. Product
attributes, prices and other SKU data are
extracted from publicly available websites. This
should factor into your decision making when
selecting and monitoring attributes.
The data
behind
this report
You need strong brand positioning to
compete today. That's why we used
our e-commerce tracking tool Via to
build this story.
Make a statement in the marketplace

and accelerate online sales with
granular SKU data.
Via is your go-to resource for product

messaging, pricing strategies and
innovation roadmaps.
contents
1 Why You Should Look Online to 35 Time to Optimise Your Product Mix
Meet Consumer Needs
37 About the Author
3 E-Commerce Data = Your
Goldmine 39 Appendix
5 Three Steps to Capitalise on

Consumer Trends with
Product Data
Step 1: Define
Step 2: Select
Step 3: Monitor
© 2023 Euromonitor International iv

WHY YOU SHOULD
LOOK ONLINE TO
MEET CONSUMER
NEEDS
Because that’s where your customers search,

browse and shop. Of course, brick-and-mortar
sales still dominate retail spend. But e-commerce
is proving to be unstoppable.
The internet changed everything. Our world

revolves around digital connectivity. And the web
gives us access to infinite purchase choices, which
means you’re up against countless competitors to
capture attention.
© 2023 Euromonitor International 1

Why You Should Look Online to Meet Consumer Needs
Product marketing is even more high stakes (and difficult) in the online space.
Think about the last time you shopped in a store. You probably touched, smelled,
tried or held merchandise before deciding whether to buy. But those sensory
experiences are lost when you’re behind a screen, so shoppers rely on packaging,
claims, descriptions and reviews before clicking the add-to-cart button.
And you can’t forget about ever-evolving consumer behaviour. Our expectations,
values and needs change with the world around us. Your priorities five years ago
are almost certainly different than today and will shift again in the coming years.
The same goes for your customers.
We want to help you make a statement on digital shelves. Our playbook

gives you the tools to identify opportunities and align your messaging with
consumer trends. You’ll learn how to select and track product attributes that
match consumer demands in three steps. We use a potential business case, our
e-commerce tracking tool Via and our Top 10 Global Consumer Trends 2023
report to put these principles into practice.
A NOTE FOR OUR READERS

You’ll see “attributes” and “claims” referenced quite frequently
throughout this playbook. We use these terms interchangeably to
encompass product attributes (e.g., scented), claims (e.g., energy
boosting) and ingredients (e.g., CBD) on packaging or within a
product description online.

E-COMMERCE
DATA = YOUR
GOLDMINE
Your company can use e-commerce data

to track how consumer trends manifest in
actual products.
The vast online marketplace increases the

need for organisations to continuously
monitor items available for purchase and
being sold. But we don’t just mean which
products. You should also look at claims,
pricing, packaging, descriptions and
ratings.

E-Commerce Data = Your Goldmine
Technology can automatically capture and organise full product

assortments item-by-item and day-by-day in a way that is
simply not possible with in-store audits. So, e-commerce data
extraction and data science solutions can help you quickly
monitor evolving consumer preferences.
How? Based on changes to online product offerings daily,

weekly or monthly.
Businesses are consuming more detailed and frequent data to

inform strategies. But making sense of all these metrics remains
a huge obstacle. The right technology and data structure can
deliver the insights needed to win in the e-commerce space.
In this playbook, you’ll get a taste of Euromonitor’s global

e-commerce tracking tool Via. We use this solution to measure
the performance of stock keeping units (SKUs) sold online with
product attributes that correspond to one of the top consumer
trends this year. And we track how SKUs for different attributes
change over time to indicate whether this trend is growing or
declining. One point we want to stress: the process outlined in this
playbook isn’t linear. Rather, cyclical. You might get to step
We’re combining strategic (consumer trend analysis) and
3, then need to revisit step 2 or even start back at step 1. And
tactical (e-commerce assortment tracking) insights, so you
that’s perfectly okay. What matters is that you’re using (and
know how to use this information to improve your product
understanding) the right data to make the right decisions.
positioning.
Let’s jump in.

THREE STEPS TO
CAPITALISE ON
CONSUMER
TRENDS WITH
PRODUCT DATA
Step 1: Define
Step 2: Select
Step 3: Monitor

STEP 1: DEFINE
Create an outline that defines your objective, industry, geographic scope
and trend.
Step 1: Define
First things first. You need to create a foundation to build off. And that should consist of at
least four elements.
Your business objective (e.g., product development, market expansion, etc.)
Industry and product categories
Geographic scope
The trend you want to home in on and corresponding consumer needs
The top three should be straightforward. But let’s expand on the last one.
Take sustainability, for example. Sure, you can put that down as your trend, but that one
word might not get you very far in this process. Here’s why.
Sustainability takes on several meanings. This trend can be segmented into social action
or environmental impact, among other areas. And you can dive deeper into each of these,
too. Recycling, responsible consumption and waste reduction are all eco-friendly lifestyle
choices. Essentially, a clear depiction of your trend gives you better direction.
Start with an outline that defines these four parameters. Then, list consumer behaviours,
values and needs that support your trend. Tip: consumer survey and market data come in
handy here to provide validation.

Step 1: Define
This blueprint will help you find your sweet spot in the
marketplace (and attributes can nail that down, which we’ll
cover in the next step). Too broad and you’ll get lost in the
crowd. Too specific or niche and you might miss your target
audience.
If you’re working with a clean slate or looking for inspiration,

our consumer trends report is a great place to start. Each year,
our experts summarise the biggest shifts in buying behaviour
and purchase motivations so companies can optimise the
customer experience and make sound investments.
Ready to put this to the test? Scroll to see step 1 in action.

Step 1: Define
PRINCIPLES IN PRACTICE
Let’s set the stage with a scenario of a potential business case
where you would apply this three-step process.
For this playbook, we’ll assume the role of a cosmetics company

that centres around self-care. Our personal care and beauty
products are distributed in the US, but we’re developing a
go-to-market plan for Europe. We want to evaluate product
positioning across a few top markets, then categories, so we can THE THRIVERS
determine where to launch (plus, which SKUs) and ensure our
You’ve probably embodied The Thrivers trend at one
messaging is in line with current consumer demands. point or another. That’s because exhaustion and stress
are at an all-time high. Get this: 45% of consumers felt
That said, here’s our foundation. under constant pressure to get things done last year,
according to Euromonitor’s Voice of the Consumer:
Objective: Tailor product positioning based on Lifestyles Survey.
consumer needs to guide a go-to-market strategy But we’re done spreading ourselves too thin. In fact,
we’re realising that enough really is enough. More
Industry: Beauty and personal care than half of consumers had a strict boundary between
work (or school) and their personal lives in 2022.
Countries: Five leading Western European markets Consumers want to protect their peace and go about
their days without feeling drained.
for beauty and personal care e-commerce sales—UK,
Germany, France, Spain and Italy, respectively— The Thrivers trend shows a clear opportunity for
alongside the US brands to closely align with self-care, stress-relief
and wellness. Plus, 26% of European consumers were
willing to pay 10% to 20% more for beauty products
Trend: The Thrivers, which is one of the top 10
with proven efficacy or benefits in 2022, according to
consumer trends in 2023 Euromonitor’s Voice of the Consumer: Beauty Survey.
This might be the first time you’re reading about The Thrivers.
Not to worry! Take a minute to get up to speed with this brief
trend overview. © 2023 Euromonitor International 9
Step 1: Define
You might be wondering, “why not focus on wellness as your trend?” Think back
to our sustainability example earlier. We can follow that same logic here.
Wellness trends span mental and physical health, which can be broken down
to a greater extent (e.g., physical health = exercise, nutrition, etc.). And there
are thousands of attributes related to wellness or even certain industries. Our
Via tool identifies, standardises and collates over 5,000 unique attributes for
the beauty and personal care industry alone. Without a refined lens, selecting
claims in step 2 could certainly feel overwhelming.
The Thrivers trend helps us pinpoint specific consumer behaviour within the
realm of wellness. How? Well, we see two distinct needs resulting from this
trend.
Calming: Consumers want to protect their peace, so they’ll prioritise

mental wellbeing and look for mood-enhancing products to relax and
rebalance.
Energy: Consumers want to fulfil their daily duties without feeling

drained, so they’ll need energy and want to feel revitalised.
Remember: we want to be descriptive and define specific trend-related

behaviour. Then, we can match consumer attitudes with product attributes
(step 2) and see how the trend is manifesting in the market (step 3).

Step 1: Define
With The Thrivers trend, energy comes into focus—whether prioritising,

preserving or redirecting it. That means consumers could be searching for
products that give them energy or alleviate stress. And in our scenario—a
cosmetics company expanding into Europe—gaining insight on how these
needs are playing out across top countries will help guide go-to-market and
positioning strategies.
To recap, here’s a summary of our selections. Step 1, done!
STEP 1: DEFINE
Trend Breakdown
Objective Industry Countries
Trend Consumer Needs
Tailor product Beauty and France The Calming
positioning personal Germany Thrivers Energy
based on care Italy
consumer needs Spain
to guide a UK
go-to-market US
strategy
Before we jump ahead, it’s worth noting that our scenario is just one example.
Our Via tool covers over 610 standardised product categories in 11 industries
across 80 countries. So, this process can be applied to any number of categories
and countries as well as retailers, brands or companies for deeper insight. Think
of the possibilities!

STEP 2: SELECT
Pick product attributes that match your trend and related consumer needs.
Step 2: Select
Next up: connecting those consumer needs you just We realise this could be a massive undertaking, so we
summarised with product attributes. Simple, right? recommend starting with three to five of the most significant
attributes. Tip: these should align as close to your USPs as
In some cases, yes, the attribute that links up is obvious. But the
possible.
match might not always be so clear. Functionality, format and
formulation all play a role in your positioning strategy. But if you’re up for the challenge, feel free to expand your initial
list just in case you need to come back to these claims. More
Make a list of all possible product attributes—from ingredients
on that in step 3. Let’s continue our scenario so we can put this
to benefits—that correlate to the trend and consumer needs
into practice.
you outlined.

Step 2: Select
PRINCIPLES IN PRACTICE
In step 1, we outlined our foundation—beauty and personal care (industry); US, UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy (geographic scope);
and The Thrivers (trend), which shows potential demand for energy and calming products (consumer needs).
Now, we’re going to build our list of attributes related to The Thrivers trend within beauty and personal care. The selection process should
be relatively straightforward because we laid the groundwork for our scenario and identified two distinct consumer needs. But the rationale
for your selection can be subjective depending on your goals.
Here are the claims we’ve picked for each and why.
STEP 2: DEFINE
Trend Breakdown
Objective Industry Countries
Trend Consumer Needs Product Claims and Attributes
Tailor product Beauty and France The Thrivers Calming • Cannabis
positioning personal Germany • CBD
based on care Italy • Mental wellbeing
consumer needs Spain • Mood enhancing
to guide a UK
go-to-market US Energy • Energising
strategy • Energy
• Energy boosting
• Fatigue relief
• Revitalising

Step 2: Select
ENERGY CLAIMS Cannabis and CBD are often used in

Consumers want products that help beauty products because these ingredients
them feel energised. And skin energy is have naturally rich skin-smoothing,
emerging in cosmetics, so we want to calming and moisturising properties.
look at products that have an “energy” “Mental wellbeing” and “mood-enhancing”
claim on labels and in descriptions. We’ll claims correspond to consumer behaviour
also include “energising” and “energy- from The Thrivers trend—supporting
boosting” attributes to capture the mental health and relieving stress.
majority of products that market these
Repetition helps us learn, so here’s one
benefits.
more reminder. Start with three to five
We’ve added “fatigue-relief ” and top attributes based on your portfolio and
“revitalising” claims to cast a wider net objectives that speak to each consumer
because these speak to the other consumer need. You’ll use these attributes in step 3
need we identified from The Thrivers. to see how your trend is resonating in the
There are more attributes that could be market.
added, but these five will give us an initial
sense of how this behaviour is playing out Disclaimer: legislation of claims by country and ingredient are
outside the scope of this playbook. Product attributes, prices
in the marketplace. and other SKU data are extracted from publicly available
websites. This should factor into your decision making when
selecting and monitoring attributes.
CALMING CLAIMS
Consumers want to relax and reduce
anxiety. And there are plenty of attributes
we can track in relation.

STEP 3: MONITOR
Track SKU count and growth of your attributes. Then, analyse online share of shelf
for your claims across categories and countries.
Step 3: Monitor
Now, we’ll dig into the data. But before we crunch the numbers, a few points to keep in
mind.
Consumers are inundated with claims and ingredients. Plus, the performance of each also
depends on the country or category. That’s why we created an initial list of claims in the
previous step to start with here.
What’s important for one consumer base can be starkly different for another, which makes
definitive and cross-comparable metrics paramount. Quantifying these attributes provides
powerful insight into the online supply-side drivers of products and changing behaviour
so you can keep your current portfolio up to speed and get an inkling of what’s around the
corner.
Here, we show you how to track product attributes in two bite-sized sections.
1
Size the prize: analysing the total number and growth of SKUs with
the attributes that represent our trend to give us direction.
2 Drill down: analysing online share of shelf for our selected attributes
across categories and countries to pinpoint growth opportunities.

Step 3: Monitor
Size the prize

Organisations must understand which attributes are
prevalent (or not). SKU count of certain claims tells us the
types of products that are in demand.
But the number of SKUs isn’t enough data to inform any

decisions or understand consumer behaviour. You also need
to look at how SKU count has changed over time. Why?
Consumer preferences can turn on a dime. They could

switch completely, or they might still want to fulfil a certain
need state but are searching for different products to
achieve it.
New ingredients, new benefits, new priorities—all impact

which claims rise to the top and which products end up in
shopping carts. And SKU growth can tell us whether a trend
(and related claims) is a short-term fad or one with staying
power.
Now, we show you how to track the global online prevalence

of SKUs with specific attributes—both the total number
and growth—to gauge market potential. Read on to create
meaning out of these metrics.

Step 3: Monitor
PRINCIPLES IN PRACTICE: ANALYSING ATTRIBUTES BY Number of Beauty and Personal Care SKUs by Attributes in Selected Countries
SKU COUNT AND GROWTH
70,000
Back to our cosmetics company scenario. Let’s take a look
at the prevalence of energy and calming attributes for
60,000
beauty and personal care products within our geographic
scope.
50,000
First, a bird’s eye view. In this chart, you can see the total
number of SKUs that have at least one energy or calming 40,000
attribute across our six countries.
30,000
We start at January 2020, slightly before the world went
into pandemic lockdowns, to check historic performance.
20,000
Then, measure the change in SKU count every six months.
This period and cadence give us a good benchmark for the
number of SKUs in each group and growth over the past 10,000
three years.
-
What should be clear is the sheer size of energy attributes Energy Calming
(bars on the left) used for beauty and personal care January 2020 June 2020 January 2021 June 2021
products. In December 2022, there were over 63,000 January 2022 June 2022 December 2022
online beauty SKUs that had one of those five energy
attributes within our geographic scope. This volume Source: Euromonitor International Via
vastly overshadows online beauty SKUs with our calming Calming attributes include cannabis, CBD, mental wellbeing and mood enhancing. Energy attributes include
energy, energising, energy boosting, fatigue relief and revitalising.
attributes (bars on the right), which totalled around 9,700
Six countries (geographic scope) include France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and the US.
at the end of last year.

Step 3: Monitor
Number of Beauty and Personal Care SKUs by Attributes in Selected Countries But we’re not done! Volume growth of SKUs that carry
70,000 your selected attributes is just as relevant.
Online beauty SKUs that made at least one calming claim

60,000
grew 91% from January 2020 to December 2022 compared
to 54% for SKUs with our energy attributes. There was
50,000 especially strong growth during the first two years of the
pandemic when consumers tried to cope with chaotic
40,000 and uncertain times. But in 2022, energy claims outpaced
calming attributes at 10% versus 4%, respectively. And
30,000 there was a slight dip in calming SKUs the second half of
the year.
20,000
So, what conclusions can we make at this stage? Both
groups of attributes are quite large and sustained growth
10,000
leading into 2023. Beauty products positioned with our
selected attributes for energy and revitalising benefits
-
Energy Calming
significantly outweigh those with our attributes for
calming properties.
January 2020 June 2020 January 2021 June 2021
January 2022 June 2022 December 2022
Source: Euromonitor International Via
Calming attributes include cannabis, CBD, mental wellbeing and mood enhancing. Energy attributes include

Step 3: Monitor
Now, we can begin to see where that growth is coming Beauty and Personal Care SKUs by Attributes Per Country
from by country. Bring on the next chart.
30%
Here, the vertical axis shows the percentage of SKUs per Legend
Energy SKUs
country split by attribute group—energy and calming—as
Calming SKUs
a share of aggregated online beauty SKUs across these six 25% Germany
countries.
% share of SKUs in these markets

France
France
USA
Germany accounted for 23% of calming SKUs in our
December 2022
20%
USA
geographic scope but only 14% of SKUs with energy United Kingdom
attributes at the end of 2022. What does this mean? Spain
15%
There’s a much stronger supply of products promoting Germany United Kingdom
relaxation in this market. And Germany could even be Spain

underdeveloped for energy-positioned beauty and personal Italy
10%
care products compared to the other five countries. Italy
France, meanwhile, led the six markets in total share of 5%

energy SKUs and had an equally high share of calming
SKUs. France also showed strong SKU growth for both
attribute groups (horizontal axis). These figures suggest 0%
0% 50% 100% 150% 200% 250% 300% 350%
that suppliers and retailers in the market were striving to
address these consumer needs. % growth of SKUs in these markets
January 2020 - December 2022
Percentage share for each country based on the sum of online beauty SKUs in these six markets per attribute
group (e.g., across all six countries, Germany accounted for 23% of online beauty SKUs with a calming claim).

Step 3: Monitor
Beauty and Personal Care SKUs by Attributes Per Country Italy was the frontrunner for growth at 311% (calming
SKUs) and 131% (energy SKUs) since January 2020. Quick
30% caveat: Italy’s beauty market still had a small share and
Legend
Energy SKUs
less volume of these SKUs compared to the other five
Calming SKUs countries. But this data validates the direction of these
25% Germany
products and growth momentum in 2023.
% share of SKUs in these markets
France
France
USA
We analysed our claims in groups to gain a comprehensive
December 2022
20%
USA
understanding of each consumer need and reduce the
United Kingdom risk of drawing skewed conclusions. Our goal at this stage
15%
Spain is to capture the essence of demand through the claims
Germany United Kingdom
we’re tracking. You can, of course, use this same process to
Spain analyse each individual attribute you selected, but be aware
Italy
10% of the limitations.
Italy
So far, we’ve looked at how these SKUs performed in
5% isolation, segmenting beauty products in our geographic
scope to examine only those with our energy or calming
attributes. Now, we need to put these claims in context
0%
0% 50% 100% 150% 200% 250% 300% 350% to all beauty and personal care products to identify and
prioritise opportunities. Time to drill down.
% growth of SKUs in these markets
Percentage share for each country based on the sum of online beauty SKUs in these six markets per attribute
group (e.g., across all six countries, Germany accounted for 23% of online beauty SKUs with a calming claim).

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Step 3: Monitor
Drill down
If you’re reading this, congrats! You’re one step closer to You might have to go back to step 2 and brainstorm other
capitalising on your trend. attributes or possibly step 1 to research other consumer
needs or a different trend. Keep at it—there could be a better
At this stage, you should have at least one group of attributes
opportunity out there for your brand.
(or maybe a few individual claims) that you want to explore
further. In the previous section, we focused on SKU count and growth
to size the prize of your selected attributes. Now comes the
Didn’t get the results you were hoping for? Don’t be
(even more) fun part—measuring online share of shelf.
discouraged! Remember: this isn’t a strict linear process.

Step 3: Monitor
With the right dataset, online share of shelf is an incredibly effective method to quantify
market demand, prominence and competition. The formula is simple enough.
Total number of SKUs with a certain claim

in a category and geography
Online share of shelf X 100 = %
Total number of SKUs in that same
category and geography
Here, you’ll track online share of shelf for your top attributes—including change over
time—across categories and countries to spot opportunities. Plus, learn how to monitor
leading brands for your selected attributes to understand the competitive landscape.
Tip: median SKU prices can help you find gaps to exploit. And we’ll get into that, too.
Let’s get to work, shall we?

Step 3: Monitor
PRINCIPLES IN PRACTICE: ONLINE SHARE OF SHELF

In the first two steps, we took our trend (The Thrivers), pinpointed consumer needs (energy
and calming) and matched those with representative attributes. Then, quantified demand and
growth in our six markets.
We discovered that online beauty SKUs with our energy attributes totalled over 63,000 across
our six markets and grew 54% since January 2020. On the other hand, calming SKUs in the
beauty and personal care space amounted to 9,762 at the end of last year and grew 91%.
But is this significant or good? Let’s calculate online share of shelf for our two claims on
beauty and personal care SKUs in those six markets for December 2022.
9,762
Online share of shelf for Calming-positioned beauty and personal care SKUs in six countries
calming claims X 100 = 0.38%
2,587,498
Total beauty and personal care SKUs in six countries
63,399
Online share of shelf for Energy-positioned beauty and personal care SKUs in six countries
energy claims X 100 = 2.45%
2,587,498
Total beauty and personal care SKUs in six countries
Calming attributes include cannabis, CBD, mental wellbeing and mood enhancing. Energy attributes include energy, energising,
energy boosting, fatigue relief and revitalising.

Step 3: Monitor
The results? Our calming claims accounted for less than Online Share of Shelf: Beauty and Personal Care SKUs by Attributes Across
0.5% of beauty and personal care SKUs in our geographic Select
3.0% Countries
scope. But at least one energy claim was made on 2.45% of

all tracked online beauty and personal care SKUs. 2.5%
2.45%
2.23%
Keep in mind, we’re comparing the number of SKUs with
one of our energy or calming claims to all online beauty 2.0%
and personal care products tracked across six markets
and hundreds of online retailers. And, since we tracked all
1.5%
products in this industry over the same period, we can see
how this online share of shelf has evolved.
1.0%
What does this chart tell us? The share of shelf and total
number of these online beauty SKUs have been steadily
increasing in our six countries. We can also compare 0.5% 0.38%
how these attributes are trending. Energy SKUs actually 0.28%
recorded stronger growth in online share of shelf (+0.19%)

0.0%
versus calming SKUs (+0.10%) from January 2020 to January June January June January June December
December 2022. That means suppliers and retailers offered 2020 2020 2021 2021 2022 2022 2022
Energy Calming
more beauty and personal care products with these energy
claims compared to our selected calming attributes to keep
up with demand.

Step 3: Monitor
Let’s recap our learnings so far.

STEP 3: MONITOR – DATA RECAP
Calming Claims and Attributes Energy Claims and Attributes
SKU Count 9,700+ in December 2022—6x smaller than energy attributes 63,000+ in December 2022
91% since January 2020 54% since January 2020

SKU Growth
4% in 2022—slight decline in the second half of the year 10% in 2022
Germany led with 23% share of SKUs across all six countries France led with 23% share of SKUs across all six countries
SKUs by
Italy recorded strongest growth (311%) but from a much Italy recorded strongest growth (131%) but from a much
Country
smaller base compared to the other five countries smaller base compared to the other five countries
Online Share 0.38% of all beauty and personal care SKUs across six 2.45% of all beauty and personal care SKUs across six
of Shelf countries in December 2022 countries in December 2022
Online Share
of Shelf 0.10% growth from January 2020 to December 2022 0.19% growth from January 2020 to December 2022
Growth
Calming attributes include cannabis, CBD, mental wellbeing and mood enhancing. Energy attributes include energy, energising, energy boosting, fatigue relief and revitalising.
At this point, we’ve analysed the performance of these two attribute groups. Here’s what we found. Energy SKUs were larger in volume and
gained a bigger online share of shelf than calming SKUs from January 2020 to December 2022. Plus, these claims recorded stronger volume
growth and held a greater share of shelf last year. With our scenario in mind, we’ll turn our attention towards energy SKUs.
Last part of step 3: find opportunities by country and category. Home stretch here we come!

Step 3: Monitor
PRINCIPLES IN PRACTICE: ANALYSING COUNTRIES TO

SPOTLIGHT STRONG CATEGORY PERFORMANCE
Sticking with the cosmetics company scenario, let's zero in on These prioritisation and spotlight practices can save time and
energy claims. First, using share of shelf to see which of our money. Plus, you’ll know where most consumers are searching
six countries performed the strongest. Then, diving into that for products that address their needs.
market to see which beauty and personal care category shows
Onto the next chart!
the most promise.
Why is this granularity important? Limited resources, the

cost-of-living crisis and inflation put us all under pressure. So
you need to justify trends and focus on where those will be
evident moving forward. Past performance can often be a strong
forecast indicator.

Step 3: Monitor
Online Share of Shelf for Energy-Positioned Beauty and Personal Care SKUs Here, we’re looking at where online beauty SKUs with
by Country energy claims grew the fastest based on share of shelf.
3.0% Countries to the right of the dotted line (average of the
six) had a higher-than-average change in share of shelf.
2.9% France
In this case, Italy, Germany and France showed strongest
growth during this period.
2.8%
United Kingdom The vertical axis indicates the dominance of energy

2.7%
attributes based on share of shelf from December 2022.
This data tells us just how prevalent the trend and
December 2022
% share of shelf
2.6%
consumer need are—the higher the share, the higher the
2.5% penetration of these claims in each respective market.
Average
2.4%
Spain France is the only country that had a higher rate of change
and a higher-than-average presence of energy SKUs in
2.3% USA beauty. Low presence in a market can represent a strong
opportunity and early mover advantages but also more
Italy
2.2% Germany risk. So, we’ll focus on France for our scenario.
2.1% But how are these claims playing out across beauty
-0.1% 0.0% 0.1% 0.2% 0.3% 0.4% 0.5% 0.6% 0.7%
products in France? We can apply the same matrix to go
% change in share of shelf
another layer deeper into individual categories.
The average is calculated based on all beauty and personal care SKUs for these six countries. Share of shelf
is the percentage of energy claims made for all online beauty and personal care SKUs per country (e.g., 2.9%
of all beauty and personal care SKUs in France had at least one energy attribute).
Energy attributes include energy, energising, energy boosting, fatigue relief and revitalising.

Step 3: Monitor
This chart compares how certain beauty and personal France: Online Share of Shelf for Energy-Positioned SKUs by Beauty
care category SKUs fare in France. Again, we use averages Category
6.0%
for the entire industry to identify which categories have
a strong share of shelf and historic growth so we can see
Skin Care
where opportunities exist. 5.0%
Skin care had the strongest presence (vertical axis) but Hair Care Bath and Shower
was one of the more stagnant categories (horizontal 4.0%

axis). It’s worth reiterating that this is comparative to the
average growth in total online beauty SKUs. There could
December 2022
% share of shelf
Average
certainly be lucrative ventures moving forward with the 3.0%
right messaging, of course. But our goal is to find which

category exhibits the best holistic performance.
2.0% Men's Grooming Fragrances
And that, our friends, would be bath and shower products. Deodorants
The growth of these SKUs makes this category really

Sun Care
1.0% Colour Cosmetics
attractive. The share of bath and shower SKUs with an
energy claim grew nearly 0.7%, which is much higher than Oral Care
the average of all beauty and personal care SKUs in France 0.0%
and the largest increase compared to other categories. -0.2% 0.0% 0.2% 0.4% 0.6% 0.8%
Plus, this category had a strong share of energy-positioned % change in share of shelf
SKUs at 4.2% in December 2022.
This performance tells us two things. There’s an Source: Euromonitor International Via
established base with strong momentum, and companies The average is calculated based on all beauty and personal care SKUs for France. Categories with a
minimum of 30 SKUs were included for analysis. Share of shelf is the percentage of energy claims made for
in this space have been aggressively positioning bath and all SKUs per category in France (e.g., 4.2% of all bath and shower SKUs in France had at least one energy
attribute).
shower products to market energy benefits. But wait,
there’s more!
Step 3: Monitor
In the table, you’ll see the fastest-growing bath and shower

FRANCE: FASTEST-GROWING BATH AND SHOWER brands for energy-positioned SKUs since January 2020. Holding
BRANDS FOR ENERGY-POSITIONED SKUS the top spot: NUXE, a self-described “love brand” from
Laboratoire NUXE SAS.
Brand (Supplier) SKU Growth
NUXE NUXE has a dedicated page on its website devoted to “radiance
460%
(Laboratoire NUXE SAS)  and anti-fatigue” products—clearly aligned to The Thrivers
trend. Identifying top players gives you additional insight on
Le Petit Marseillais 
350% the market, potential competition and innovations, especially
(Johnson & Johnson Inc) 
from emerging brands that are capitalising on popular trends.
Natura Siberica 
283%
(Nature's Dream Ltd) 
Roger & Gallet
185%
(Impala SAS) 
adidas
125%
(Coty Inc) 
Organic Shop
114%
(Eurobio Lab) 
Rituals
92%
(Rituals Cosmetics B.V.) 
L'Oréal
83%
(L'Oréal Groupe) 

Step 3: Monitor
Last but not least, pricing. This data gives you intel on France: SKU Pricing for Top Energy-Positioned Bath and Shower Brands in
which brands compete in a given category and at which December 2022
price point to help you find potential gaps in the market.
€ 60
Once you map price ranges for brands with specific
attributes, you can begin to formulate market entry points.
€ 50
Let’s take a quick look at brands that had the highest
number of energy-positioned bath and shower SKUs in
€ 40
December 2022. Except for Sonew, which offers a variety
of bulk-sized bath balls, the other four brands had median € 32.25
€ 30
SKU prices in the range of €6.27 (Kneipp) to €10.13
(NUXE). We can already start to see local price gaps.
€ 20
From here, we would explore specific categories (e.g., body
wash or bath additives like salts and oils) to help us make
€ 10 € 10.13
informed decisions on product lines to launch and pricing € 7.90 € 8.11
€ 6.27
strategies.
€-
Sonew Roger & Gallet Weleda Kneipp NUXE
A final note before we wrap up. Based on our scenario
and objective—tailoring product positioning in line with
consumer needs to guide a go-to-market strategy—we
Lowest Price Median Price Highest Price
analysed countries, homed in on France, then analysed
beauty categories. But this last part also works in reverse.
You could look at categories, find the most opportune
Leading brands by energy-positioned SKU count. Energy attributes include energy, energising, energy
space, then examine countries. The best approach often boosting, fatigue relief and revitalising.
depends on specific company circumstances.

Step 3: Monitor
You may want to analyse countries first, so you can also These are just two brief examples. Regardless, it’s important
assess risk or factors like cultural and infrastructure fit within to start with the approach that addresses your most pressing
potential markets alongside weighing opportunities. Or, you concerns and takes into account any business priorities or
might want to evaluate resources needed for category expansion factors that could limit certain opportunities. The important
or reformulation in which case analysing categories first could point: align your internal resources with products and markets
make the most sense. that give your company actionable next steps.

TIME TO OPTIMISE YOUR
PRODUCT MIX
There you have it! Three steps to begin capitalising on consumer trends with e-commerce data.
Together, we examined how The Thrivers trend is manifesting in the online beauty space based on product claims that exemplify two core
consumer needs. Then, concentrated on a group of attributes—energy—and analysed specific countries, categories and brands alongside
pricing. With this data, we could even finetune our approach and repeat step 3 to assess individual energy attributes or explore other
countries and categories.
Think back to our scenario for a moment. We played the role of a cosmetics company looking for direction on beauty product positioning
in line with a current consumer trend (and related needs) to guide market expansion. These three steps helped us not only identify a
potential space to play in but also gave us a standardised methodology that can be replicated and updated.
We reviewed the past three years at a six-month cadence. But weekly and monthly monitoring provide you further guidance on seasonality
and promotional periods. Additional metrics like SKU pricing, promotions as well as ratings and reviews can paint an even clearer picture
of market dynamics.

Now it’s your turn! Use this process to translate online
product data into meaningful insights. With our playbook in
hand, you’ll be well on your way to perfecting your product
portfolio. But keep in mind, this isn’t always a sequential or
one-and-done process.
You might get to step 3, then need to revisit step 2 or even

restart at step 1. And that’s okay. What matters is that you’re
using (and understanding) the right data to make the right
decisions. Plus, you should go through this process on a
regular basis to align with the latest trends, attributes, claims
and positioning alongside additional market research.
That leads us to our final (and, debatably, most essential)

point: don’t underestimate the power of e-commerce insights.
Our playbook gives you a small sample of these datasets, but
there’s so much more you can achieve.

About the Author
JARED CONWAY
Head of Research and Data Insights
Connect on Linkedin
Jared is the Head of Research and Data Insights at Euromonitor

International with a focus on Via, the firm’s daily e-commerce
data extraction tool. Utilising Via, he produces, trains and assists
on consumer goods analysis related to pricing, promotions,
availability and satisfaction metrics. With more than 15 years of
research expertise, he brings extensive insight into changing market
conditions and consumer behaviour alongside how companies can
adapt and remain competitive.

Advisors
ALISON ANGUS KAYLA VILLENA

Head of Practice — Innovation Head of Beauty and Personal Care
Connect on Linkedin Research
Connect on Linkedin
Alison Angus leads Euromonitor’s research on corporate innovation Kayla is the Head of Beauty and Personal Care Research at
strategies and new product launches as well as understanding Euromonitor International, which she joined in 2011. She leads
consumer behaviour, attitudes and shifting trends driving the publication of global strategic content on the opportunities,
innovation. Alison has worked in research for more than 20 challenges and outlook of the beauty industry and often synthesises
years across consumer and service industries globally. She brings beauty insights with Euromonitor’s retailing, packaging, survey,
extensive knowledge and expertise on research and analysis, pricing and product claims systems.
producing compelling consumer-focused strategic content and
working with clients to inform and support strategic thinking.

Appendix
Methodology Playbook Definitions
Via is Euromonitor International’s e-commerce tool that uses Attributes and claims
AI and data science combined with our longstanding research The terms attributes and claims are used interchangeably to
expertise to standardise and track stock keeping units (SKUs). refer to product attributes (e.g., scented), claims (e.g., energy
Via monitors product attributes, pricing, promotions, ratings and boosting) and ingredients (e.g., CBD) on packaging or within a
availability from over 1,500 online retailers in 80 countries on a product description online.
daily or monthly basis.
Beauty and personal care
We collected and analysed data for this playbook in January The beauty and personal care industry includes the following
2022 for the period of January 2020 to December 2022. The categories: bath and shower, colour cosmetics, deodorants,
size of product assortments analysed in Via can increase as new fragrances, hair care, men's grooming, oral care, skin care and sun
data improvements to the AI-led product matching of SKUs to care.
categories, suppliers and brands are released. In turn, this can lead
Calming claims and attributes
to updates in the data as the SKU sample size increases.
Calming attributes include the following claims and ingredients:
Legislation of claims by country and ingredient are outside the cannabis, CBD, mental wellbeing and mood enhancing.
scope of this playbook. Product attributes, prices and other SKU
Energy claims and attributes
data are extracted from publicly available websites. This should
Energy attributes include the following claims: energy, energising,
factor into your decision making when selecting and monitoring
energy boosting, fatigue relief and revitalising.
attributes.
Geographic scope
We analysed six countries, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain,
the UK and the US.

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How to Optimise Your

Product Mix with

This playbook uses the terms “attributes”

Legislation of claims by country and ingredient

Make a statement in the marketplace

Via is your go-to resource for product

5 Three Steps to Capitalise on

© 2023 Euromonitor International iv

Because that’s where your customers search,

The internet changed everything. Our world

© 2023 Euromonitor International 1

We want to help you make a statement on digital shelves. Our playbook

A NOTE FOR OUR READERS

© 2023 Euromonitor International 2

Your company can use e-commerce data

The vast online marketplace increases the

© 2023 Euromonitor International 3

Technology can automatically capture and organise full product

How? Based on changes to online product offerings daily,

Businesses are consuming more detailed and frequent data to

In this playbook, you’ll get a taste of Euromonitor’s global

© 2023 Euromonitor International 4

© 2023 Euromonitor International 5

 Your business objective (e.g., product development, market expansion, etc.)

 Industry and product categories

 The trend you want to home in on and corresponding consumer needs

© 2023 Euromonitor International 7

If you’re working with a clean slate or looking for inspiration,

Ready to put this to the test? Scroll to see step 1 in action.

© 2023 Euromonitor International 8

For this playbook, we’ll assume the role of a cosmetics company

 Calming: Consumers want to protect their peace, so they’ll prioritise

 Energy: Consumers want to fulfil their daily duties without feeling

Remember: we want to be descriptive and define specific trend-related

© 2023 Euromonitor International 10

With The Thrivers trend, energy comes into focus—whether prioritising,

To recap, here’s a summary of our selections. Step 1, done!

© 2023 Euromonitor International 11

© 2023 Euromonitor International 13

© 2023 Euromonitor International 14

ENERGY CLAIMS Cannabis and CBD are often used in

© 2023 Euromonitor International 15

© 2023 Euromonitor International 17

Size the prize

But the number of SKUs isn’t enough data to inform any

Consumer preferences can turn on a dime. They could

New ingredients, new benefits, new priorities—all impact

Now, we show you how to track the global online prevalence

© 2023 Euromonitor International 18

© 2023 Euromonitor International 19

Online beauty SKUs that made at least one calming claim

January 2022 June 2022 December 2022

Source: Euromonitor International Via

© 2023 Euromonitor International 20

% share of SKUs in these markets

relaxation in this market. And Germany could even be Spain

France, meanwhile, led the six markets in total share of 5%

Source: Euromonitor International Via

© 2023 Euromonitor International 21

Your business objective (e.g., product development, market expansion, etc.)

Industry and product categories

The trend you want to home in on and corresponding consumer needs

Calming: Consumers want to protect their peace, so they’ll prioritise

Energy: Consumers want to fulfil their daily duties without feeling