Sales of prestige hand soap in the UK grew 102% in the week beginning March 8 compared to the same period the year prior, according to The NPD Group. As UK citizens were asked to stay home, purchases shifted online where sales rose 199% compared to the same period last year.
Prestige hand soap sales in-store and online increased week-on-week since January 26 compared to the same period in 2019. Since February 23, when UK prime minister Boris Johnson made a public health announcement regarding regular hand washing, sales of luxury and prestige hand soaps have seen double-digit growth.
NPD UK Beauty account manager Emma Fishwick said: “As the UK public follow government guidelines on hand washing, we have seen the sales of prestige and luxury hand soaps grow dramatically, week-on-week. The beauty industry is responding to the situation in many ways. L’Occitane has donated 10,000 hand creams to the NHS and multinational luxury brands such as LVMH, Clarins, L’Oréal and Coty are switching production to products such as hand sanitiser.”