China's Personal Care Market Surges to CN¥ 117 Billion
By Jotham Lim
5 min read
Executive Summary
China's online personal care market staged a dramatic V-shaped recovery in MAT2025, reaching CN¥ 117.0 billion with +22.8% year-on-year (YoY) growth after stagnating at -0.4% in MAT2024. Body care now commands 56% of the market and continues to gain share, while fragrance has emerged as the single most important purchase driver across both hair and body care segments. Douyin (抖音) captured nearly 39% market share in each segment, fundamentally reshaping how consumers discover and purchase personal care products.
A Market Reborn: From Stagnation to CN¥ 117 Billion
The speed of recovery in China's personal care market is striking. After a virtually flat MAT2024 when sales reached just CN¥ 95.3 billion (-0.4% YoY), the market added over CN¥ 21.7 billion in a single year to hit CN¥ 117.0 billion. This growth rate outpaced the broader fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) e-commerce market, positioning personal care as one of the strongest-performing consumer categories.
Multiple forces converged to produce this acceleration. The rise of cost-effective domestic brands lowered entry barriers, Douyin's content-commerce model expanded the addressable market, and frequent promotional events such as 6.18 and Double 11 stimulated volume purchases. Average selling prices (ASP), however, declined from CN¥ 62.1 to CN¥ 51.0 over two years, confirming that volume-driven strategies and platform subsidies compressed margins across the category.
Personal care online market surges +22.8% YoY to CN¥ 117.0 billion
| Period | Revenue (CN¥ B) | YoY Growth (%) |
|---|---|---|
| MAT2023 | 95.7 | - |
| MAT2024 | 95.3 | -0.4% |
| MAT2025 | 117.0 | +22.8% |
The V-shaped recovery is unmistakable. After stagnating in MAT2024, the market surged past the CN¥ 100 billion threshold for the first time.
Body Care Overtakes Hair Care as the Growth Engine
Body care expanded from 53.8% to 55.6% of the total personal care market, growing +27.0% YoY to CN¥ 65.1 billion versus hair care's +17.9% growth to CN¥ 51.9 billion. The widening gap between the two segments reflects a broader consumer migration toward multi-step body care routines, heavily influenced by the "skinification" trend where facial skincare principles extend to body treatment.
On social media, body care discussion volumes more than doubled, reaching 3.69 million posts (+131.9% YoY), while hair care buzz remained essentially flat at 2.92 million posts (-1.2% YoY). This structural shift in consumer attention underscores body care's emergence as the primary growth frontier.
Body care captures 56% of personal care market and continues gaining share
| Sub-category | MAT2024 Revenue (CN¥ B) | MAT2025 Revenue (CN¥ B) |
|---|---|---|
| Body Care | 51.3 | 65.1 |
| Hair Care | 44.0 | 51.9 |
Fragrance: The Decisive Purchase Factor
Fragrance has transformed from a secondary product attribute into the most important purchase driver in personal care. In body care, scent accounts for 50.2% of product evaluation buzz share -- more than five times the second-ranked dimension (hydrating/moisturizing at 10.0%). In hair care, scent commands 36.8% of consumer focus, approaching near-parity with efficacy at 38.4%.
This dominance has fueled explosive growth in fragrance-retaining products. Hair care fragrance products reached CN¥ 9.37 billion (+38.5% YoY), while body care fragrance products surged to CN¥ 12.64 billion (+61.8% YoY). Together, these segments represent a combined CN¥ 22.0 billion market growing at roughly double the rate of the broader personal care category.
Consumer motivations reveal that fragrance serves an emotional function. Relaxation drives 46.8% of hair care fragrance demand, followed by image management (28.9%) and lifestyle rituals (24.3%). Consumers increasingly view their personal care routine as a self-care ritual where scent plays a therapeutic role.
While traditional floral scents -- cherry blossom, rose, and camellia -- still command the largest market share, the growth story lies elsewhere. Oriental fragrances grew +137.1% YoY, gourmand scents surged +109.9%, and woody notes rose +63.9%. These emerging fragrance families, influenced by fine perfumery trends extending into daily personal care, signal consumer appetite for sophisticated, distinctive scent profiles.
Douyin Reshapes the Channel Landscape
Interest-based e-commerce, led by Douyin, is fundamentally disrupting channel dynamics. In body care, Douyin captured 38.9% market share, up from 32.6% a year ago. In hair care, it reached 38.8%, approaching near-parity with Taobao & Tmall (天猫), which lost -12.4 percentage points in a single year.
Douyin captures 38.9% of body care sales, up from 32.6% a year ago
| Channel | MAT2024 Share | MAT2025 Share |
|---|---|---|
| Taobao & Tmall | 52.1% | 43.1% |
| JD.com | 15.3% | 18.0% |
| Douyin | 32.6% | 38.9% |
This accelerating channel migration reflects Douyin's advantages in product discovery, content-driven purchasing, and live commerce. Personal care products -- experiential by nature and well suited to video demonstration -- align particularly well with Douyin's content-commerce model. JD.com (京东) gained modestly in both segments, benefiting from logistics advantages for bulky personal care products.
Emerging Usage Scenarios Create Premium Opportunities
Body care consumption is expanding beyond the bathroom. Gift-giving buzz surged +123.2% YoY to become the second-largest discussion scenario, while dating-occasion discussion jumped +172.8% YoY. These emotionally charged scenarios command premium prices: gift-giving products average CN¥ 92 and dating products average CN¥ 89, compared to just CN¥ 25 for sports and fitness.
Gift set sales reached CN¥ 2.3 billion (+51.4% YoY), with premium gift boxes priced above CN¥ 500 accounting for over one-third of Valentine's Day and Mother's Day sales. This transformation from private utility to social currency creates significant opportunities for brands that develop occasion-specific product lines and premium packaging.
Key Takeaways
- Market recovery: China's personal care online market grew +22.8% YoY to CN¥ 117.0 billion after a flat MAT2024, adding over CN¥ 21.7 billion in a single year.
- Body care dominance: Body care commands 56% market share and grew +27.0% YoY, outpacing hair care's +17.9% as skinification drives multi-step routines.
- Fragrance as category driver: Fragrance-retaining products generated CN¥ 22.0 billion combined, with body care fragrance products growing +61.8% YoY and hair care +38.5%.
- Channel disruption: Douyin captured ~39% share in both segments, gaining over 6 percentage points in body care and 7 points in hair care within a single year.
- Premiumization through occasions: Gift-giving and dating scenarios command 3-4x the average price of at-home use, creating premium positioning opportunities.
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About the Data
This analysis draws on Moojing Market Intelligence's proprietary e-commerce tracking data, covering SKU-level transactions across Taobao (淘宝), Tmall, JD.com, and Douyin. Social media analytics span Weibo, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu (小红书/RED). MAT2025 refers to the 12-month period from May 2024 to April 2025. Moojing tracks 400,000+ brands across 30+ platforms, representing 58-65% of China's online retail gross merchandise value (GMV).
This content adheres to Moojing's editorial standards .
