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The market for natural care products has shown signs of improvement over the years. The average annual growth is estimated to be around 8-25 percent. On the contrary, the artificial beauty product market has shown an average increase of only 3-10 percent. It shows that the user preference has now shifted from artificial beauty products to natural ones. Many manufacturers include small amount of botanical ingredients in natural cosmetics, while others try to use 100 percent natural ingredients in their products.

The market for natural cosmetic ingredients can be divided into two main segments processing industry and product manufacturers. Processing industry deals with herbal extraction, essential oil distillers, milling operations, farms, nut and seed oil producers and wholesale distributors with value added capacity.

Understanding the Consumer Behaviour

The end-product manufacturers of natural products are involved in the process of manufacturing natural cosmetics and cosmetic hair care products along with perfumes and even wound healing products. The main reason behind the growing demand of natural cosmetics is the increasing concern of the user about their health and look. The media acts as an important promotional platform in informing consumers about different natural cosmetics and inspiring them to use it. The mens grooming products have remarkably benefited from this process. Apart from these, salons, spas and parlours offer natural cosmetic services using these elements in their spa services and these have contributed to its remarkable growth.

Consumers of natural cosmetics take interest in understanding the scientific data related to the functionality and benefits of the ingredients specially mentioned on the label of product. So in order to convince the consumer to buy their products, manufacturers are now spending more time and money on designing the container of the product and on its packaging and labelling.

Apart from these keeping in mind particular skin and beauty problems of the consumers manufactures are now trying to include components with special properties in the products. Over the last few years, the demand for anti aging products has increased. For this reason, manufacturers are now investigating plant extracts with anti-oxidant properties that combat signs of ageing and meet the consumer demand.

Tracking the Changing Cosmetic Market

The changing consumer preference has also altered the cosmetic industry drastically over the last few years. The trend has now shifted from products that superficially improve beauty, has no biological effect, to therapeutic products that helps in repairing damaged tissues, and protect the skin from harmful effects of the sun.

The forecast for natural cosmetics is positive. In order to win remarkable market share it is important for the manufactures of existing products to reformulate their products and create a niche market for their product. Many big multinational companies have now ventured into the natural cosmetic and personal care market which was previously predominated by the small local manufactures. The big companies allocate a large budget to capture the market and as a result, it has become difficult for the consumers to choose the right product based on their skin type. For example, if consumers are planning to buy natural moisturizer they have hundred options to choose from. The intervention of big companies can be perceived as a positive aspect for development or as threat to the smaller companies.

In order to get better return on investment, it is necessary to carry out proper market research to find out the consumer preference and analysing the competitors strategy. This will help in planning an effective marketing strategy to gain success.