Perfumery: the sector where the customer walks in "just to look" and walks out 130 euros lighter.

The Italian perfumery sector keeps growing. In 2024 the channel posted a 9.5% rise in sales, with total consumption above 2.77 billion euros.

Not bad for a market that, at first glance, might look like it's only about personal pleasure. In reality, behind a fragrance, a face cream or a make-up product there's a lot more: identity, status, the wish to feel well, the search for a small reward, and often a healthy dose of impulse.

Fragrances remain the undisputed stars. In brick-and-mortar stores within the fragrance retail channel, they account for over 43% of sales, up from about 41% four years ago. If we consider the leading categories as a whole—perfumes and makeup, or, in some analyses, perfumes and skincare—their share can reach around 60%. In other words: the perfume store remains one of the few places where consumers still want to try, smell, compare, and get advice.

Online is growing too, especially for fragrances and make-up, while skincare shows signs of slowing. That doesn't mean people have stopped looking after themselves. More likely they've become more selective. Or they've finally worked out that you don't need seven different serums before bed.

The outlook stays positive, with the sector expected to keep growing through 2025 and 2026, pushing total consumption past 3.1 billion euros. Economic uncertainty is still a factor, of course. The customer may love accessible luxury, but the weekly shop keeps reminding them that reality exists.

The generational split is interesting.

For Gen Z, fragrance and make-up are tools of self-expression. I'm not just buying a product: I'm building an identity, saying who I am, changing style, communicating something.

For older buyers, perfumery keeps a stronger link to status, self-care, wellbeing and perceived quality.

Two different logics, same result: beauty remains a very powerful language.

Another significant phenomenon is the so-called “hourglass effect.” The market tends to polarize: on one end, more affordable products are growing, while on the other, premium and luxury products are on the rise. The mid-range segment, however, risks finding itself in the most uncomfortable position: too expensive to be affordable, yet not distinctive enough to be desirable.

In this landscape, perfumery holds a specific role against other channels. Supermarkets and pharmacies work on range and volume. Perfumery lives on specialisation, advice, experience, and the ability to give weight to categories with high emotional content, like fragrances and facial skincare.

The conclusion is simple: perfumery is not just a sales channel.

It's a small laboratory of contemporary consumption.

Where desire, identity, accessible luxury, premiumisation and the need to feel, at least for a few minutes, slightly better than the version that walked in through the door, all meet.