MULTICULTURAL
MINDSET HEALTH AND BEAUTY SHOPPERS FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE INCREASINGLY WANT PRODUCTS TAILORED TO THEIR NEEDS — AND MINORITY-OWNED BRANDS ARE READY TO DELIVER. HOW WILL MASS RETAILERS BE PART OF THE MOVEMENT?
The masks are coming off, consumers are going
back to stores and optimism about a recovery are everywhere. And, fortunately, it appears that the social conversations, begun during the early months of the pandemic, are continuing. As many know, last year the COVID-19 pandemic and the racial justice protests — taking place amid larger conversations about better meeting the needs of multicultural consumers — affected everything, including how people shop for their health and beauty care products. On the pandemic side, some of the questions had easy answers: DIY hair care at home, skin products to help relieve mask-related rashes or breakouts, and a makeup routine for video calls. The racial issues were much more complicated, but
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one positive result was increased awareness of minority-owned businesses, including a number of beauty brands. Now, it appears that while the near future will see fewer Zoom meetings, the interest in multicultural and minority-owned brands will continue and, hopefully, bring more consumers into mass retail outlets and lead to not only more sales and profits for merchants but a feeling of inclusion for all shoppers. And, many in the industry said they hope retailers will pay attention to this growing trend. While some mass retailers have emphasized multicultural products for decades, others have paid little attention to the category, saying that their store demographics did not match. Now, with awareness growing and consumers with greater buying power demanding more
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