by Faye Brookman
The aisles at Cosmoprof North America last month were full of new product concepts. New research from more than 26,000 beauty shoppers by PowerReviews suggests there is an audience ready for discovery.
The beauty industry continues to pump out big gains. For the first half of 2023, prestige beauty sales hit $14 billion, up 15% over the year before, according to Circana. Mass beauty sales also rose, 9%, over the year before to $28 billion. It is the only industry Circana tracks, according to Larissa Jensen, beauty industry advisor at Circana, to grow on units sold rather than just dollar volume.
The survey supports that with year-over-year, consumers reported spending more on beauty. Almost 30% indicated they spend over $200 per month. That’s up from 15% in 2022.
Online consumers, especially, are buying products they never tried before—perhaps a nod to the DTC route burgeoning brands take for launch. The survey showed that 26% to 50% of online purchases over the past 12 months were something they never tried before. Thirty-one percent indicated that new products account for 51% or more of their online beauty transactions from the past year.
GenZ, not surprisingly, were willing to try new with 97% indicating they are willing to buy something they never purchased before in tandem with a stock-up of a favorite product. Boomers were a little less adventurous with 89% indicating they test-track something new while buying favorite items.
Even physical door customers are on the prowl for new with 29% revealing that new items comprise more than half of their in-store purchases over the last 12 months.
Google is gaining traction as the search engine for discovering beauty products they’ve never tried before. Beyond that, consumers are looking for brands that share their values. Black-owned is crucial to 38% of those polled. Clean continues to move to the front burner—80% indicated that clean is “somewhat important.” Nearly half say they are considering if a line is vegan or not.
People are influenced by social media content creators, but 89% said ratings and reviews are where they put their most trust.
Photos and videos from other shoppers are rolled into decisions by 67% of those in the survey. Thirty-four percent are motivated by media on Instagram, 33% from TikTok, 25% on YouTube, 24% by influencer endorsement, 22% from Facebook, 9% from celebrity endorsements and 7% by TV commercials.
Physical and online beauty is booming. Online is getting a healthy share of sales. More than a third of the survey spend more than $101 online on beauty per month versus 24% in 2022. In brick-and-mortar, 32% of shoppers are spending $100 per month, up from 17%.
ABOUT FAYE BROOKMAN
Faye Brookman has reported on the beauty and personal care industry for more than 35 years. 
She contributes to beauty industry publications including Women’s Wear Daily and CEW Beauty News. Her articles have also appeared in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. She also is a frequent moderator for discussions of the beauty business and retail industry.
A graduate of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Brookman resides in Skillman, N.J.
In case you missed it, check out Faye’s previous article about Beauty in an Uncertain Economy.
Categorized in: Trends/Insights