‘Tween personal care market expected to exceed $8 billion in next five years

NEW YORK The teen and ‘tween grooming market is expected to reach more than $8 billion by 2012 as these consumers have shown they are not bashful about spending big bucks to make themselves look good.

“Kids are responding well to the soft-positioning of existing adult grooming items, brand-dedicated Web sites, product placement deals and text messaging campaigns as their awareness of appearance becomes more sophisticated and their spending power blossoms,” stated Tatjana Meerman, the publisher of Packaged Facts, a publisher of market intelligence.

After a growth rate of 20 percent from 1998 to 2002 and continued double-digit growth through 2007, the U.S. teen (aged 15 to 18) and ‘tween (aged 8 to 14) grooming products market will finish 2007 with nearly $7 billion in sales, according to Packaged Facts report titled Teen & ‘Tween Grooming Products: The U.S. Market. By 2012, that number is expected to total more than $8 billion.

Skin care purchases by teens and ‘tweens—or purchases by adults for them—are soaring above $3.2 billion this year. Hair care sales are pushing past $2.4 billion. And the market for HBC products for young boys is pushing the $2 billion mark, according to the report.