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P&G and Unilever dominate Australian shampoo market

Major consumer goods brands Procter & Gamble (P&G) and Unilever are dominating the local shampoo market with Head & Shoulders leading the pack as the most widely purchased brand.

According to research by Roy Morgan, more than 15.7 million Australians buy shampoo in an average of six months, up from 14.9 million four years ago.

Big manufacturers dominate

Roy Morgan found that Procter & Gamble brands, including Head & Shoulders, Pantene and Herbal Essences (Clairol), are bought by nearly a third of shampoo buyers (32.4 per cent).

Unilever is the second most popular manufacturer with 23.7 per cent of the market for its brands Alberto, TRESemmé, Dove and Sunsilk. In third place sits L’Oreal on 13.7 per cent with brands such as Garnier Fructis.

The secret to P&G’s success

Head & Shoulders, which P&G launched decades ago in 1961 (in the US), is now bought by 16.4 per cent of shampoo buyers in Australia, up by 1.9 percentage points from four years ago.

“The secret to Head & Shoulders success lies in clever marketing as this Procter & Gamble brand is the only shampoo in Australia’s top 10 shampoos bought by more men than women,” Michele Levine, CEO of Roy Morgan, said.

Men make up over three-fifths of all Head & Shoulders shampoo buyers, and more than twice as many men buy Head & Shoulders (1.48 million) compared to than the next most popular brand Alberto (730,000).

Leading shampoo brands bought by Australian shampoo buyers – 2019 cf. 2015 

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), April 2014 – March 2015 (n= 10,060), April 2018 – March 2019 (n= 5,388). Base: Australian shampoo buyers aged 14+.

Alberto is the leading shampoo brand for women, and is bought by 13.8 per cent of shampoo buyers, up 1.2 percentage points since 2015.

Tresemmé is the third most popular shampoo brand in the market followed by Pantene, Palmolive, Garnier Fructis, Dove and Schwarzkopf.

“Other leading shampoos including Alberto, TRESemmé, Pantene, Garnier Fructis, Schwarzkopf, Sunsilk and Herbal Essences (Clairol) are largely dominated by female buyers with over three-fifths of the customers of these brands being women,” Levine said.

Overall women do comprise a clear majority of 58 per cent of the shampoo market compared to 42 per cent for men, Levine stated.

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