The latest figures show that UK retail sales growth for the three months ending in September was at its lowest rate since 1996 - 0.4 per cent, compared to 0.9 per cent for the previous three months up to August.
The rapid decline has been forecast for some time, as a mini-boom in UK retail spending draws to a close on the back of falling property prices. And now cosmetics and toiletry manufacturers are having to react to the change, by adapting their product offerings accordingly.
Tesco, which has in recent years been building on its cosmetic and toiletry offerings under its Finest premium range, is now looking to keep up with these changes in the reatil market.
Its Ski range is aimed at the budget winter holiday traveller, a growin category that is is bringing more and more skiers to the slopes. But budget travellers do not want to pay the price for the premium products that are usually marketed towards such holidaymakers.
"Tesco's summer suncare range offering was well-received by customers this year," a Tesco spokesperson told CosmeticDesign. "In previous years we've had a limited winter suncare range, which mostly focused on brands, but customers fed back that they would welcome an own-label alternative as part of the mix. So this year, we have introduced Tesco SKI range which provides both superb protection and great value for money."
The range consists of two facial sunscreens, with SPF 25 and 25, together with SPF 25 lip balm - all packaged to enable easy use on the pistes.
Nothing really ground-breaking with the products themselves; they offer the same type of UVA and UVB protection as other ski sunscreen products. But where the difference really lies is in the price. Whereas most mountain sunscreen products cost around £6 (€4), each product in the Tesco ski range is under £2.
Backing up the cheaper ski sunscreens, Tesco has also launched a value range of women's cosmetic products. The All About Face range is a complete line of make-up products priced from under £2, up to £5.
The range, which includes colour cosmetics for Asian and Afro-Caribbean skin tones, includes 70 new products that are said to include both seasonal, fashion and contemporary trends.
The range includes concealer, foundation, blusher, bronzer, eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, lipstick, highlighter, gloss wand, gloss tube, nail polish and shimmer powder.
"Over recent years, we've learned a great deal about production and selling of great cosmetic ranges, particularly with Make-up by Barbara Daly for Tesco," the spokesperson added. "With All About Face, it's all about offering customers a great colour palette at exceptional value because we have 'stripped away' what might be called 'frills' in terms of unnecessary packaging."