COVID-19 has turned China into the land of opportunity for fragrance brands. According to data from Euromonitor, the compound annual growth rate of China’s scent market reached 14.9 percent between 2015 and 2020. But that rate is expected to jump to 22.5 percent over the next five years. By 2025, China’s perfume sales should reach $4.7 billion. Those numbers alone may sound less impressive, but comparing them to the global growth rate — about 7 percent— Chinese market potential has grown to three times the global rate.

— Read more in Who Will Fill China’s Gaping Luxury Fragrance Void? at Jing Daily.

Buoyant perfume sales are giving retailers hope for a Christmas shopping surge in defiance of fears of an economic chill.

Economists often look to the so-called Lipstick Index in tough times with shoppers’ willingness to spend on little luxuries reflecting wider levels of confidence in good times ahead.

However, sales of perfume not make-up is the indicator giving festive cheer to stores pinning their hopes on a December rush.

— Read more in The sweet smell of optimism: Perfume sales fuel retailers’ hopes for Christmas spending at Scotland's The Sunday Post.

According to a newly released NPD Fragrance Consumer Study, most U.S. consumers who wore fragrance less often in 2020 have returned to their normal usage.

In fact, nearly one-third of consumers are buying fragrances for themselves more often these days, and three out of four consumers feel that fragrance helps lift and enhance their moods or bring back memories of happy times, places and experiences. According to the NPD data, this sentiment is stronger among Millennials, who are growing even more engaged with the category and are willing to pay more for scents they really like.

— Read more in Consumers Clamor for Fragrance as We Enter the ‘New Normal’ at Beauty Packaging.