Olaplex sales fell in Q2 as the company continued to grapple with lowered demand in its professional and direct-to-consumer businesses.
Net sales were down 4.8% to US$103.9m, dragged down by an 18.4% decrease in professional sales to $33.4m.
D2C sales also sank by 11.5% to $34.1m, although Specialty Retail bucked the overall declines and rose 22.4% to $36.4m.
Net sales also increased 7.3% in the United States, but this was against an overall 15.1% decrease internationally.
The bond building specialist reduced its full-year guidance by 5% as a result of the lower than expected sales, and expects income to fall between $435m and $463m for 2024.
Patrick Flaherty, VP of Investor Relations at Olaplex, said the brand is ultimately in a better position compared with last year despite the declines.
“We were still experiencing headwinds related to misinformation in the back half of 2023,” Flaherty told investors in the brand’s Q2 earnings call.
Sales plummeted by nearly half during the hair care brand’s second quarter of trading in 2023, with the brand’s professional category also decreasing 61% to $40.9m.
CEO Amanda Baldwin, who took over in January, acknowledged the increased competition in the professional segment in 2024.
“There are more options for places to buy professional-first products like Olaplex, this is across any brand across the salon channel, and this is putting pressure on the professional channel at large,” she said.
Olaplex will be launching a bond-shaping product targeted at professionals in the second half of the year to support the category’s recovery.
The business will also be doubling down on its communication strategies with professional hair stylists.
Amanda Baldwin, CEO of Olaplex
“We are spending a lot of time communicating effectively to the pros, how to use this new product, how it can [support] their business and how it allows them to speak to a brand new consumer,” said Baldwin.
Olaplex commissioned a perception study during the quarter to investigate consumer feedback.
“It was [about] making sure that we had the ears and eyes open in the interest in the brand going forward,” said Baldwin.
“Certainly with innovation, but also brand perception more generally, looking at our priorities and tightening our marketing and messaging this year.”
This follows a C-suite shake-up in July undertaken to “fuel” a brand comeback.
Seasoned executive Katie Gohman joined Olaplex as CMO on 15 July, along with Catherine Dunleavy who was named COO and CFO.
“We are not making any proclamations on what we are going to do going forward yet, but I think we are going to learn a lot that is very important to our business in the next couple of quarters as we continue to improve our marketing execution,” Baldwin continued.
It comes after a tough year for Olaplex in 2023, after reporting a sales slump for its products due to poor demand.
The company was dogged by increased bond repair competition from the likes of K18 and Redken Bonding, but also bad publicity as well.
This included a class action lawsuit alleging the company’s products cause hair loss, which Olaplex has vehemently denied.
Despite the court granting Olaplex’s motion to sever and dismiss the claims, the brand has been working hard to get back on top.