Products like body wash and shower gel will help the Indian bath & shower market to grow with a CAGR of more than 7% over next few years: Bonafide Research

Rising disposable income, growing young population with changing preference, trend of premiumization, developing modern trade, increasing online retailing, introduction of various variants by the leading players are some of the major growth factors for body wash and shower gel market. Indian bath and shower market consists of the segments of body wash & shower gel and bath soaps products. Body wash and shower gel has been present in the Indian market from 2005. After a decade, still the category is small, and also a new category for many urban Indians. Rural Indians are still unknown about these products. Over the years, it has been a matter of discussion whether body washes and shower gels are better than soaps in terms of saving money, water and time. However, the demand for body wash and shower gel products have been rising in urban India from recent two three years mainly due to changing preference of young consumers towards these products. In terms of features, body washes and shower gels leave a gentle, soft and moisturizing effect on the skin, which tempts the consumers to adopt these products. The majority of sales of body wash and shower gel is generated through modern retail chains and online retail portals, which is a clear hint that the rich consumers and youth are the key end users of these products. Body wash and shower gel products have limited base of consumers mostly because of its premiumization, which hinders the growth of the category. Indians are price sensitive and always choose value for money products. Thus, they avoid to use products like body wash and shower gel on daily basis only because of its higher price for small quantity. The companies such as Hindustan Unilever Limited, Colgate-Palmolive India, ITC Limited and Beiersdorf India are the major players in Indian body wash and shower gel market. According to recently published report of Bonafide Research "India Bath & Shower Market Outlook, 2021", bath and shower products are expected to register more than 7% CAGR in the next five years. The market is mainly driven by the bath soap category, whereas the body wash and shower gel is the fast expanding category in India. Bath soaps are traditionally used among Indian consumers for personal wash, which itself has a big market in India with huge penetration and strong competition. Indian consumers still prefer bath soaps where they have numerous options to choose their product according to their requirement. Herbal soap is the fastest growing category in the Indian soap market. Moreover, the premium and super premium soaps are gaining momentum among Indian urban consumers, whereas, mass and popular soaps are top selling products in rural market. Thus, the soap market enjoys the positive response of rural as well as urban consumers in India. According to Zalak Bhavsar, Research Analyst at Bonafide Research, "As consumers mostly trust on bath soap products for better cleanliness, it is hard for consumers to switch this category very fast. Undoubtedly, the category of body wash and shower gel will show tremendous growth during forecast period, but cannot replace the traditional soaps during the same period. This resembles the scenario of past market journey for hair wash soaps and shampoo. Body wash and shower gel market will take time to be mature market in India". Major companies operating in the bath & shower market of India are ITC Limited, Hindustan Unilever Limited, The Himalaya Drug Company, Wipro Consumer Care Limited, Beiersdorf (India) Private Limited, Colgate Palmolive (India) Limited, Godrej Consumer Products Limited, Reckitt Benckiser (India) Private Limited and Karnataka Soaps & Detergents Limited.