TextureMedia Reveals Its Latest Consumer Insights Report: TextureTrends 2017

The report draws from over 3,000 consumers, including consumers with naturally straight hair and those who use chemical relaxers. It explores many areas of purchasing behavior and product usage, including awareness, spend, retail preferences, and brand loyalty.

The textured-hair category has been one of the fastest growing and most dynamic in the beauty industry. Two decades ago, few products existed for textured hair, even though more than 60 percent of the population has wavy, curly or coily hair. Since NaturallyCurly's inception 19 years ago, the number of products on the market has grown exponentially. Dozens of new brands specifically for curly hair launch each year, and every major hair care brand now offers products for textured hair. Garnier, Tresemme and Pantene all launched new curl-specific products over the past year.

As demand for these products has grown – textured-haired consumers spend more than twice as much as straight-haired consumers – the shelf space devoted to them has also expanded. In 2016, Sephora launched a major Curl initiative – bringing in a number of curl-specific brands to attract this consumer. Other large retailers, including Walmart and Target, have sections devoted to texture, now offering a wide range of texture brands, including smaller, niche brands such as Taliah Waajid, Camille Rose Naturals and CURLS.

Since the first report was published in 2011, TextureTrends has become an invaluable tool for brands and retailers in the category. It has differentiated itself by looking at this consumer in terms of texture type, including women of all ethnicities. It delves into their brand and product preferences as well as where they purchase those products and how much they spend. Rather than looking at sales once they're in a store, TextureTrends explores the consumer's attitudes before she ever walks into a store to purchase a product.

These insights provide actionable market intelligence aimed at helping brands make better decisions regarding their target consumer, the products they develop and how to most effectively promote their products. It also provides retailers with the tools they need to attract consumers – from brand selection to how brands are displayed in-store. 

A sampling of this year's TextureTrends key findings include:

• The textured-hair consumer is a self-proclaimed Product Junkie, spending more than twice as much as straight-haired consumers. She spent $82 on hair care products in the past 3 months, while straight-haired consumers spent $40 during that same period.
• 91% of textured-hair women continue to look for products, even if they've found their "Holy Grail" product.
• Dryness, frizz and styling options are the top 3 concerns for wavy and curly women, while dryness, hair growth and detangling are top concerns for coily women.  
• Curly girls like the option of wearing their hair straight.
  • 69% of women with textured hair have worn their hair straight in the past 3 months.
  • Wavy women are the most likely to wear their hair straight. 73% of those with wavy hair have worn their hair straight in the past three months.
  • 67% of curly girls have straightened their hair in the past three months.
  • 64% of coily women have worn their hair straight in the past three months.
• Protective Styles are hot. Protective styles are defined as hairstyles that contain your length and ends to protect them. Twenty-five percent of all textured-hair women have worn a protective style in the past three months, of those:
  • 64% wore braids, twists and faux locs
  • 32% wore wigs
  • 52% did their own protective styles
• Nearly one in four women (24%) with textured hair don't go to a salon to have their hair done. 31% of women with textured hair visit a salon at least once every few months vs. 44% of women with naturally or chemically straight/relaxed hair. The tighter the texture, the less likely she is to go to a salon more than a few times a year.
  • 42% of wavy women go to a salon
  • 31% of curly women go to a salon
  • 22% of coily consumers go to a salon
• Reviews, ingredients and price are the most important attributes of a new product for the textured hair consumer, with reviews trending up by 8 percentage points over last year.

Karonda Cook, director of merchandising for Sally Beauty, says, "The TextureTrends report provides expert insight into the hair texture landscape within the natural category. The data is actionable and extremely useful in understanding trends and consumer preferences."

Michelle Breyer, NaturallyCurly co-founder and Head of Business Development for TextureMedia concludes, "2017 results punctuate the fact that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to the textured-hair consumer. Their concerns, their product and brand preferences and their styling choices vary dramatically. The brands and retailers that understand the wide range of needs will be the leaders in this fast-growing, dynamic category."

For more information visit, texturemediallc.com, naturallycurly.com or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

TextureTrends Insights Suite:

• Syndicated Research: Regular category and trend reports are available for purchase. Additionally, the TextureTrends survey is TextuerMedia's premier syndicated report which is presented using a web-based analysis tool that provides on-demand access to data on key demographics, shopping habits, behaviors and needs of textured-hair consumers for real-time decision making.
• Custom Research: TextureMedia consults with brands and retailers and uses a variety of advanced tools to help provide the solutions they need. Options include:
  • Online Surveys
  • Online Focus Groups
  • Product Testing
  • Concept Testing
  • Brand Tracking Studies
  • Customer Satisfaction Studies
  • Competitive Intelligence
  • Customer and Target Audience Profiles
  • Mobile & In-store Intercept Studies

About TextureMedia:
TextureMedia is the largest digital media company created to inspire, educate and empower the textured-hair community. Founded in 1998, the company influences up to $5 billion in hair care sales each year. TextureMedia operates a family of leading digital properties that engage multicultural beauty enthusiasts through original and user-generated content, branded entertainment, social media and commerce. Its monthly social reach is 26 million strong across its portfolio of brands, which include NaturallyCurly, the flagship, first-to-market platform that champions the textured-hair consumer, SHOP NaturallyCurly, the premier e-commerce destination specifically for curly hair, CurlyNikki, the leading natural hair blogger site and TextureTrends which provides powerful consumer insights and solutions for brands and retailers with research needs about the multicultural haircare segment.

Media Contact: 
Brianna Wright /Lauren Clements
Bratskeir & Co.
[email protected] 
[email protected]

SOURCE TextureMedia

Related Links

http://texturemediallc.com