At a glance
- Client: A company considering entry into Indonesia's beauty and supplement market through direct selling
- Sector: Beauty, personal care, supplements and direct selling
- Region: Indonesia
- Service: Market and competitor analysis
The challenge
A company was considering selling skincare, make-up and health supplements in Indonesia, with direct selling (multi-level marketing) as a likely route. Before deciding, it needed a full picture of the market: how big each category is and how fast it is growing, which brands lead, what Indonesian consumers prefer, where they buy, how social media and celebrities move sales, and which regulations apply to imported cosmetics and supplements. It also had a list of specific product questions, from best-selling face masks to how thick consumers like their creams.
What we did
- Secondary research across five categories: direct selling, health supplements, personal (body) care, home beauty devices, and cosmetics and skincare.
- Sized each category from Statista, WFDSA and industry-association data, including online and offline revenue splits to 2027.
- Profiled the top 10 companies in each category, covering overview, unique selling points and business model.
- Compiled top-10 best-selling brands and prices for ten skincare product types, using marketplace sales data.
- Analysed TikTok's best-selling cosmetics categories, average prices and sales, plus local influencer reach and engagement.
- Ranked the top five pharmacy, wellness and beauty retailers by revenue and social following, and set out shelving requirements.
- Reviewed halal certification, BPOM registration and import tax and licensing rules for cosmetics and supplements.
Topics covered
- Direct selling: market size, sellers, leading companies and regulatory pressure
- Health supplements and vitamins
- Body care and home beauty devices
- Cosmetics and skincare, online versus offline
- Distribution channels and retailer selection
- Social media and influencer marketing
- Halal certification, BPOM registration and import taxes
What we delivered
A long-form market report (June 2024, about 80 pages) in nine sections, plus a set of answers to the client's specific product questions. A slide deck of about 30 slides summarising the key findings by category, target market, retail channels and regulation. Both went through three revisions.
In-depth market analysis report
Report · About 80 pages, 9 sections
- Direct-selling market overview and top 10 MLM companies
- Health supplement market and top 10 companies
- Body care and home beauty device markets
- Cosmetics and skincare revenue, online and offline, 2018–2027
- Top-10 best-sellers and prices for ten skincare product types
- Top five pharmacy and beauty retailers
- TikTok categories, influencers and celebrity endorsement
- Halal, BPOM and import tax requirements
Market analysis deck
Slide deck · About 30 slides
- Key market findings
- Brand landscapes by category
- Target market and product analysis
- Top five retailers
- Regulatory landscape
What we found
- Direct selling in Indonesia generated about US$1.4 billion in retail sales in 2022, and wellness products made up 65% of direct-selling volume, ahead of cosmetics and personal care at 21%.
- Indonesian rules bar direct-selling products from online marketplaces, and the industry association works with the e-commerce association to remove them. At least one long-standing local MLM company left the MLM model to sell through mixed channels.
- Online sales of cosmetics are growing at about 21% a year against a much slower offline market, so we advised building online presence while keeping physical retail.
- Consumers favour multi-purpose and bundled products across body care, skincare and beauty devices.
- Halal certification is a legal requirement for cosmetics under Government Regulation 39/2021, with deadlines phased from October 2024 to October 2034; all cosmetics and supplements must also be registered with BPOM before sale.
- Of the retailers reviewed, we recommended a beauty retailer with strong online engagement and nationwide stores as the first distribution partner.
In numbers
- 8,771,943 direct sellers in Indonesia in 2021 (WFDSA data, as cited in the report).
- Indonesia's cosmetics market: US$1.37 billion in 2018, projected US$2.30 billion in 2027 (Statista).
- Vitamins and minerals revenue: US$0.74 billion in 2024, growing 8.25% a year to 2029 (Statista, 2024).
- Beauty-tech (home beauty device) revenue: US$147.9 million in 2024, CAGR 5.55% to 2028 (Statista, 2024).
Key takeaway
For direct sellers, Indonesia's ban on marketplace sales matters as much as market size; plan channels around it from the start.