Shoppers turn noses up at celebrity perfumes as 'couture' scents boosted

Updated

Demand for celebrity perfumes has nose-dived over the past year as shoppers shun them for more expensive "couture" scents, figures show.

The saturated market has seen many celebrities such as Beyonce, Britney Spears, Katy Perry and Michael Buble put their name to perfumes, and even the Trump Organisation offers two fragrances for men - named Empire and Success.

However sales of prestige celebrity fragrances declined by 22% last year compared with 2015, falling from £56.4 million to £44.2 million, according to analysts NPD Group.

The fall was particularly steep over the Christmas period when the value of sales of celebrity fragrance gift sets was 42% lower than December 2015.

This is in contrast to the market as a whole, where sales of prestige perfumes from the likes of Chanel and Dior grew by 1.4% on the previous year.

Teresa Fisher, senior account manager for NPD UK Beauty, said the decline in celebrity scents demonstrated a shift in consumer behaviour.

She said: "The fragrance market is still growing, but has slowed in recent years and only couture and niche fragrances report strong growth.

"This shows what customers are really looking for from fragrances. The story-telling approach of these high-end, premium launches is important and adds something special for them."

So-called couture fragrances, such as the recently launched Chanel No 5 L'Eau, fronted by Lily-Rose Depp, reported sales of £411 million last year, an increase of 6% on 2015.

Ms Fisher said: "Fragrance remains a very important part of the prestige beauty market with new sectors driving growth as others mature and plateau.

"The growth of couture fragrances is especially exciting for retailers as it provides multiple options to engage with customers by telling stories through multimedia platforms and social media."

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