Looking at five core markets of the US, UK, Germany, Canada and France, the report considers the top categories, products and sales drivers for each of these markets over the second quarter of this year.
Top categories and products
It found that in four of the five countries, skin care was the number one beauty category for size (in France, it was makeup).
In terms of fastest growing, in the US it was mass cosmetics (up 60% yoy), in the UK prestige skin care (130%), in Germany it was prestige hair care (140%), in Canada mass cosmetics (70%), and in France it was hair care and styling (130%).
In terms of fastest growing beauty item, in the US it was Crest 3D White dental whitening kit (up 400% yoy), in the UK it was an Ardell false eyelash product (145%), in Germany it was an Olaplex hair perfector product (260%), in Canada it was Calvin Klein’s Euphoria fragrance, in France it was a Filogra skin perfector product.
Makeup vs. skin care
“Mass Cosmetics are experiencing strong growth on Amazon in North America and Make-Up is the strongest category in France, but overall the Beauty product group is still dominated by Skin Care,” say the report’s authors.
The report observes that the beauty industry does not necessarily translate well to the uniform Amazon retail channel format, as consumers look for engaging and novel experiences bound up in their beauty purchasing.
“The beauty market has always been a challenging one for Amazon. The cosmetics industry relies so heavily on experiential retail (free samples are proven to influence purchase decisions) that eCommerce can't compete at the same level as it does in most other product group,” the report confirms.
The authors note that skin care is the major growth driver for the majority of countries in the report because Amazon’s success has ‘always relied on volume’.
“For the most part, when consumers buy mass market skin care products they know the brands they like and they stick to them—making Amazon the perfect place to shop,” the report declares.