Love Island's 'hairless' cast helped retailers sell more men's grooming products
Retail analysts credited the hit show with fueling a mini-boom in sales of razors and skincare products.
RETAILERS REPORTED A big spike in sales of men’s skincare and shaving products – coinciding with the return of smash-hit reality show Love Island.
That’s according to analysis by consumer insights firm Kantar Worldpanel, which suggested that the “hairless look” of the show’s contestants contributed to a 15% spike in the sale of men’s razors during the three months to 12 August.
During the 12-week period, male skincare products and shaving soaps grew at double the rate of the overall grocery market.
Love Island, the British dating show set on the Spanish island of Majorca, was the “hit of the summer” for 3e, which has since changed its name to Virgin Media Two.
In the first week of broadcast this year, an average viewership of 102,000 tuned in to watch the programme live. Other major television events like the World Cup also helped all of the major Irish supermarkets increase sales.
“It’s been a summer of indulgence for customers,” said Kantar Worldpanel consumer insight director Douglas Faughnan.
“Alcohol is continuing to boom – overall sales of beer, wine and cider are up 10%. Ice cream is also up by a third compared to this time last year – equivalent to an extra €10 million – and soft drinks sales have jumped by 13%.
“Time spent in front of the TV meant shoppers spent less time on home cooking, to the benefit of frozen and chilled ready meals sales.”
Market share
Tesco topped the latest edition of the supermarkets league, claiming a 22.4% share of the market. On average, consumers spent an extra €21 at the UK chain’s Irish outlets than the same period last year.
This was closely followed by SuperValu’s share of 22% and Dunnes’ 20.9% stake of the grocery market.
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Musgrave, the operator of SuperValu and Centra, reported steady growth. Kantar attributed this to its sponsorship of the GAA All-Ireland hurling and football championships which helped the chains "stay at the forefront of consumers' minds".
German discounters Lidl and Aldi accounted for 11.9% and 11.5% of the market respectively.
According to Kantar's research - which is based on a year-on-year comparison of more than 30,000 products and a survey of 5,000 households - Aldi attracted an extra 40,000 customers through its doors during the period.
