By Editorial TeamKey Takeaways
- New execs at Coty, including a fresh CEO for Consumer Beauty, are all-in on digital and direct-to-consumer sales, which is going to change how we all source our retail products.
- Coty is upping its R&D spending by 12% for 2025, so we should expect some serious ingredient innovation and new professional-grade formulas hitting the market soon.
- With Coty’s luxury division pulling in 9% more revenue year-over-year in Q4 2025, the fight for premium shelf space is about to get tougher, but it could also open doors for brand partnerships if you run a high-end salon.
- They’ve cut their brand portfolio by 15% since 2024 to focus on “hero” products, so we should probably stick to those main brands if we want consistent inventory and actual marketing support.
- By 2027, Coty plans for 80% of its packaging to be sustainable, and since our clients are demanding this, we need to make sure our own retail offerings line up with this eco-conscious trend.
Big changes in Coty leadership are already hitting our back bars and retail shelves, affecting everything from their prestige fragrances to the drugstore cosmetics we’ve used for years. Their own Q3 2025 earnings report shows a massive 70% of Coty’s revenue now comes from its prestige division. The new executive team’s strategy will absolutely dictate what happens with hundreds of familiar brands. So what does this actually mean for salon owners and independent pros who depend on these products for retail and services?
Coty’s Prestige Focus: A 70% Revenue Shift
The latest numbers from Coty show that 70% of total revenue is flowing from their prestige division, a huge leap from just 55% three years ago, according to their 2025 Investor Day presentation. This isn’t just a number on a spreadsheet. It’s a deliberate pivot directed by the new people in charge. For a long time, Coty balanced mass-market consumer beauty with luxury, but the current obsession with brands like Gucci Beauty, Burberry, and Kylie Cosmetics signals a clear directive to chase bigger margins and build a more exclusive brand image worldwide.
For us in the salon, this means a couple of things. First, get ready for even more intense marketing and R&D for Coty’s luxury lines. This might show up as better in-salon promotional materials, exclusive pro-only sizes, or maybe even ambassador programs for top-tier salons. Second, this intense focus on prestige could starve the mass-market brands that many smaller shops need for affordable retail. I’ve seen this happen time and again: when a big company goes all-in on luxury, resources get pulled from elsewhere. It’s likely we’ll need to start looking for other brands to fill the gaps if Coty’s consumer lines stop getting new products and support.
Digital Engagement Soars: 25% Increase in E-commerce Sales
In their last annual shareholder letter, Coty was bragging about a 25% year-over-year jump in e-commerce sales for their prestige lines in fiscal year 2025. This goes deeper than just selling directly to consumers (D2C). The company’s new leadership is pushing a digital-first mindset, even creating a Chief Digital Officer role, which is new for them. They aren’t just putting products online. They’re creating entire digital worlds around brands with virtual try-on tools and influencer campaigns designed for maximum online chatter.
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Find a Wax Center Near You →How this hits our salons is a double-edged sword. There’s an opportunity here if your salon already has its digital act together with online booking, virtual consults, and a decent social media game, because you’ll be speaking the same language as Coty’s marketing. But it’s also a major competitive threat. As Coty pours money into its own D2C websites, we have to get much better at explaining our value. Why should a client buy a Gucci lipstick from you when they can get it from the source? The answer has to be our expertise, our personalized advice, and the experience they can’t get from a website. Stocking the product is no longer enough. You sell the expertise that goes with it. You can see how other pros are doing it by reading how Beauty Studios are Winning Clients Online in 2026.
Supply Chain Optimization: 15% Reduction in SKU Count
Coty’s new operations team has been busy, cutting a full 15% of its SKUs from the portfolio since early 2024, a detail buried in their latest operational report. The corporate goal is to simplify inventory and make fulfillment more reliable. While that sounds like a back-office problem, it has a direct effect on our stockrooms. Fewer SKUs usually means they’re focusing on the bestsellers, which could mean better availability for the most popular products.
But the flip side is that some niche products we rely on are going to get axed, and that’s always a headache. It’s incredibly frustrating when you have a small group of clients who are fiercely loyal to a specific foundation shade or hair product, and it just disappears from the order form. My advice is to get on the phone with your distributor and Coty reps now. Don’t wait for an item to be out of stock to learn it’s gone forever. Being proactive lets you find a replacement and move clients over without the drama. It’s a good reminder that adaptability is everything in this business.
Sustainability Goals: 80% Sustainable Packaging by 2027
Coty is making a very public promise to use 80% sustainable packaging by 2027, a target their Chief Scientific Officer keeps mentioning at industry events. This means more recycled materials, more refillable products, and less packaging overall. This isn’t just them trying to look good. It’s a direct reaction to what consumers want. A NielsenIQ survey recently found that 55% of beauty shoppers are actively looking for brands with sustainable practices. That number is only going up.
For us, getting on board with this is non-negotiable. It’s becoming a requirement to stay in business. Clients are asking about ingredients and packaging at the chair. If your retail section looks out of touch with these values, you’ll lose people. You need to be pointing out the Coty products that have these green upgrades, training your staff on the talking points, and promoting things like refillable fragrances. You’re not just selling a product anymore, you’re selling a shared value. The salons that embrace this early will lock in the younger clients who really care about this stuff. For more on this, check out Clean Beauty: Waxing Safety in 2026.
Don’t Count Out Consumer Beauty Yet
Everyone’s saying that Coty’s intense focus on its prestige division means the end of its consumer beauty brands. While the money is clearly flowing to luxury, I think that’s a simplistic take. In my experience, these giant companies almost never put all their chips on one square. The “conventional wisdom” is missing the role that consumer brands play, they are the perfect places to test new ideas and enter new markets cheaply. Coty hasn’t sold off this whole segment. They’ve just cleaned it up. They’re concentrating on the strongest consumer brands like Rimmel and CoverGirl, which still have huge market share and give them a place to try out new tech or ingredient trends before rolling them up to the luxury lines. This lets Coty keep a foot in every part of the market and protects them if the luxury sector takes a hit. We shouldn’t write off these accessible brands, especially for clients who need quality at a better price point. It’s not about abandonment, it’s about efficiency.
The bottom line is that the leadership changes and new strategies at Coty are a reality we have to deal with. By paying close attention to their new focus on prestige, digital sales, a leaner supply chain, and sustainability, salon owners can make smart moves with their retail and client communication to stay ahead. Adapting to these industry shifts is how you survive and position your business to actually grow.
How will Coty’s focus on prestige brands affect product availability for smaller salons?
You’ll probably find that the big “hero” products from Coty’s prestige lines are more consistently in stock, which is great. The downside is that they are actively cutting less popular SKUs from all their lines, so you might see some niche client favorites get discontinued. It means we have to be ready to find alternatives.
What does Coty’s increased digital engagement mean for salons’ marketing efforts?
It means we’re now competing directly with Coty’s own websites. Salons need to step up their own digital game, good social media, easy online booking, maybe even virtual consults, to meet clients where they are. More importantly, we have to sell our in-person expertise as the reason they should buy from us, not online.
How can salons capitalize on Coty’s sustainability goals?
Use it as a selling point. When Coty products with new sustainable packaging come in, make a big deal about it. Point out the refillable options or recycled materials to clients. Educate your staff so they can talk about it. This builds trust with clients who care about green issues, and more of them do every day.
Will Coty completely abandon its mass-market consumer beauty brands?
No, that’s unlikely. While they are pouring money into luxury, they’re keeping their best-performing consumer brands. Think of them as a testing ground for new ideas and a way to keep a presence in all parts of the market. They’re not abandoning them, they’re just making them leaner.
What immediate action should salon owners take regarding these Coty leadership changes?
Get on the phone with your distributors and Coty reps now. Ask them what’s being discontinued and what’s being launched. Then, look at your retail shelves and decide if you need to bring in other brands to fill gaps. It’s also a good time to double-check that your own digital marketing is up to snuff.
