The continuing heavy rain and floods restricted growth of the haircare product business to 5-6% in the first eight months of this year, lower than in the same period last year.
Vorasit: Shampoo market resilient
Vorasit Turongsomboon, brand public relations manager of Procter & Gamble Trading (Thailand), said the lower growth was mainly caused by the weather, while political and economic uncertainties caused some mom-and-pop shops to delay their orders.
"The overall market will still see whole-year growth because major haircare companies continue to do marketing activities. Moreover, new players from South Korea, Japan and Europe simultaneously entered the country in the first eight months," he said.
From January-August, the shampoo market was valued at 7.6 billion baht, while conditioner products were worth 3.1 billion.
The corporate market share for shampoo brands under P&G including Pantene, Rejoice and Head & Shoulders rose to 34.8% as of Aug 31 from 33.5% at the end of 2012.
The market share for all P&G's conditioner brands rose to 25.2%.
Mr Vorasit is still concerned about the flood problem. During the three months of massive flooding in 2011, about 300 million baht in sales disappeared from the overall shampoo market.
"We are ready to cope with the flooding this time after our experiences in 2011. Thailand is P&G's hub for haircare and skincare products in this region, so we have prepared our factory in Chachoengsao province to cope with the problem," he said.
P&G Thailand has also prepared boats and trucks to deliver products from its factory to retail outlets if flooding worsens.
Mr Vorasit said shampoo is still performing better than many consumer goods despite the contraction in growth.
The market size of Thailand's shampoo business will reach 11 billion baht this year, while the conditioner market will be 4.6 billion baht. Of the total shampoo market, 65% comprises beauty shampoo and the rest anti-dandruff products.
The anti-dandruff segment rose by 10-11% in the first eight months.
"Our Head & Shoulders anti-dandruff shampoo has grown at a double-digit rate in the past five years," Mr Vorasit said.