The beauty and cosmetics craze is "making a comeback", and e-commerce giants such as Amazon are taking action!

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, masks have become a part of our bodies. Due to the "cover" of masks, many girls have also skipped the step of putting on makeup after the epidemic. Data shows that in 2020, due to the impact of the epidemic, the sales of beauty and skin care in the United States fell by 17%.

According to the NPD Group report, with the normalization of epidemic prevention and control, the continuous improvement of vaccine technology and other factors, sales of beauty products in the United States in the second quarter were close to US$4.9 billion, an increase of 66% compared with the same period in 2020, and an increase of 6% compared with before the epidemic.

Among them, cosmetics sales accounted for the largest proportion, at $1.7 billion, up 71% from the same period last year. This is mainly due to the growth of foundation and concealer, with the strongest growth coming from tinted moisturizer.

The report also pointed out that after some countries lifted the mandatory mask requirements, global lipstick sales increased, and skin care products and perfume sales also gradually climbed. In the United States, the beauty and cosmetics market sales reached 42 billion US dollars, and most of them were purchased online.

According to a survey by cross-border e-commerce technology company ESW, in the first half of 2021, skin care products and health and beauty products each accounted for 17% of consumers' total cross-border online shopping expenditure, and perfumes and beauty products each accounted for 16%, making them one of the best performing categories in cross-border e-commerce sales.

In addition to cosmetics, searching the search term rankings on Amazon US shows that the search volume for peripheral products such as makeup bags, makeup mirrors and makeup brushes is also increasing.

In response to the recovery of the beauty and cosmetics market, e-commerce giants such as Amazon and Walmart have also made moves towards this "sweet cake".

Amazon launched an event called "Holiday Beauty HauL " in October. From October 4 to 25, it promoted perfumes, men's grooming, winter skin care products and cosmetics.

Amazon said beauty is one of its fastest-growing categories and it hopes to use the event to drive traffic to its other holiday promotions later in the season.

Walmart is investing heavily in the beauty and cosmetics market. For example, it has added more than 40 new tags in this category to facilitate consumers' search and purchase, while also increasing sellers' product exposure.

In addition to its online layout, Walmart has also kept up with the trend of the times and developed businesses such as Tik Tok and live streaming. In March, it held its first beauty shopping live event through TikTok, bringing more Generation Z (under 24 years old) consumers into Walmart.

Musab Balbale, vice president of merchandising for Walmart U.S. Beauty, said sales of beauty products have risen in 2021, and the number of new beauty brands at Walmart has nearly doubled in the past year.

According to ESW's forecast, in the future, physical stores will become "experience sanctuaries". Although the accelerated growth and reversal of digital sales channels are unlikely to occur, consumers' consumption mode of "offline experience, online purchase" will continue for some time.

Beauty and Makeup

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