Long gone are the days when women depended on beauty counters for their vanity table supply; today, more and more consumers opt to get products delivered straight to their door. As such, Amazon is now America’s second-most-shopped retailer for beauty products, right behind Walmart. In fact, 42.5% of shoppers said they bought on Amazon in the past 12 months, according to a new industry report.
Consulting firm Coresight Research released findings on Amazon’s beauty industry influence. The team examined the top categories and competitive landscape, and surveyed shoppers on their habits. Here a few findings regarding the 200,000 makeup, skincare, and hair products listed on Amazon.com’s U.S. website:
- Makeup is the largest beauty category, accounting for 33% of beauty products, followed by skincare at 26%, haircare at 14%, personal care at 13%, fragrance at 9%, and oral care at 2%.
- The most listed brand is Maybelline New York with 4,370 product listings, of which 94.6% of are listed by third-party sellers . It’s followed by Clinique (No. 2) and Cover Girl (No. 3).
- Turns out that only 4% of beauty brands (103) account for 52.1% of all beauty product listings.
- The top haircare brands are Clairol (No.1), Redken (No. 2), and Goldwell (No.3).
Coresight Research found that third-party sellers “dominate” Amazon beauty, with 92.4% of beauty products listed by independent sellers. Luxury beauty experiences the highest percentage of first-party listings (at 89%), while makeup sees the lowest proportion of first-party listings (at just 5%).
Meanwhile, just last week Amazon launched an exclusive skincare line from its brand accelerator program. Called Fast Beauty Company, it includes face masks, makeup remover wipes, and lip moisturizers–all under $15.
It’s one of several new moves Amazon has taken to better compete in the crowded beauty industry. Last year, the retailer also announced its Indie Beauty Shop, where consumers could discover emerging brands, many of which cater to the booming billon-dollar natural beauty trend.
The investment seemingly paid off. One analysis report found that Q2 2018 sales of Amazon beauty products increased 26% from the year prior, totaling $950 million.
Read the full Coresight Research report here.
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