Year In Review: Deodorant

The following insights are powered by Nielsen in partnership with Unioncrate, an artificial intelligence demand planning platform that combines consumer behavior and historical shipment data to predict sales and inventory with up to 91.6% SKU-level accuracy.

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Welcome to Day 4 of Unioncrate’s Year In Review. Today we’re digging into the deodorant category’s 2.9% YOY decrease in sales this year.

Deodorant

• When the outside world shut down and physical interaction was traded for virtual hangouts, deodorant was one of the first things to be scrapped from the shopping list. Sales fell 15.1% in the 4-week period ended 4/18.

• Whether your deodorant comes from the men’s section or the women’s section, there was no battle of the sexes on this issue. Men’s antiperspirant & deodorant sales have fallen 6.4% since March, and women’s antiperspirant & deodorant follows closely with a 6.7% decrease in the same period.

• It wasn’t all bad news for the category, though. Unisex deodorant grew 21.6% in the period since March.
  

Highlights 

• Old Spice and Secret announced earlier this year that they would switch to paper packaging, making them the first major deodorant brands to ditch the plastic for a more sustainable choice.

• The Grateful Dead partnered with North Coast Organics to create and release a line of five vegan, natural deodorants.

• Degree Deodorant partnered with Brooklyn Nets player Kevin Durant to donate $1 million to recreation and sports programs across the country that are committed to helping kids stay active during the pandemic.

• With plenty of time to stay at home and make the leap to better-for-you alternatives of everyday products, natural deodorant was in the spotlight this year as more and more consumers switched to aluminum-free brands like Curie and Native, both of which saw significant increases in their followings during lockdown.

Up Next: Coffee