This week, we spoke with analysts to find out how different age groups are shopping on Amazon, plus we look into Channing Tatum’s new luxury fragrance job and executive changes within Walmart’s beauty team.
Amazon on Thursday announced the record-breaking results of last week’s high-profile Prime Day sale, which the company said sold more than 200 million items across 35 categories, making it the largest two-day event in its 10-year history.
The beauty industry continues to evolve its Amazon strategies, leveraging new insights into how different age groups shop and what factors are most important to each group when making a purchase.
As more beauty brands join Amazon this year, including Too Faced, Clinique, Kiehl’s, Scarlett Johansson’s The Outset and Corpus body and skincare brand Pendrell, brands need to be increasingly mindful of changing consumer behavior in the growing marketplace retailer, which is expected to overtake Walmart as the largest U.S. beauty retailer by 2025 with a 14.5% market share, according to a Morgan Stanley report.
“The biggest difference we’ve observed between generations, surprisingly, isn’t what they buy, but how they buy it,” Emily Safian Demers, director of insights at Front Row e-commerce and marketing agency, told Glossy. “The biggest difference is how they buy.” [in our Amazon research] It’s a path to purchase.”
Safian Demers and her team found that while younger shoppers often discover products on social media, they are increasingly willing to purchase from Amazon rather than following links to social apps or outside retailers: Half of skin care shoppers ages 13 to 18 have purchased skin care products from Amazon in the past six months, according to Front Row.
This behavior appears to have to do with access: According to Front Row, 43% of skin care shoppers ages 13-18 have their own Amazon account, and that number jumps to 69% at age 18. Additionally, a third of skin care shoppers ages 13-16 have access to a parent’s account.
“Younger consumers don’t think about brands differently across different platforms, so it’s important to provide a consistent brand experience,” Suffian Demers told Glossy. Younger consumers are also driven by reviews on Amazon product pages or testimonials they find on social media, while older consumers use Amazon like a search engine. For example, Gen Z shoppers come to Amazon knowing exactly what they want, while Gen X consumers might start by searching Amazon for a product category or brand.
“Younger generations are discovering products through channels other than Amazon and purchasing them on Amazon, while older generations are more likely to discover products on Amazon,” Suffian Demers said. “This reflects generational thinking when it comes to purchasing beauty products on Amazon and elsewhere. Older generations are more likely to discover products on Amazon and purchase them on Amazon.” [prefer] It’s like a one-stop shop.”
Coupled with this is an overall increase in the gradual shift towards digital shopping among older generations: For example, consumers aged 55 and over were the only generation to see a year-over-year increase in online-only beauty purchases away from traditional brick-and-mortar stores, according to data collected by market research firm Circana for the 12 months ending May 2024.
Meanwhile, younger generations, who tend to move between multiple platforms, are looking for third-party validation: For example, 49% of teen skin-care shoppers say social media influences their skin-care purchasing decisions, Safian Demers told Glossy.
As more brands compete to reach these shoppers, Amazon advertising has become an attractive prospect. According to performance market research firm Tinuiti, its clients increased their Amazon Prime Day ad spend by 200% in 2024 compared to 2023. Joe O’Connor, the firm’s senior innovation and growth director, attributes this upward trend in part to rising costs of acquiring customers online. As a result, more brands are moving up the marketing funnel to expand their reach on Amazon.
That’s also tied to competition in July: More than half of Prime Day shoppers compared prices with other retailers before making a purchase, according to consumer insights and data provider Numerator. Retailers including Target, Walmart and Dermstore all ran promotions during the two-day Amazon Prime Day sale.
Despite the trend of shopping exclusively in stores becoming less popular, physical stores remain the top beauty shopping destination, according to Circana, which found that just under 25% of beauty shoppers only buy beauty products online.
Management Changes:
Vinima Shekhar is Walmart’s new vice president of beauty, succeeding Clayton Kuiper, who has been with the company since 2018 and was promoted to senior vice president of the retailer’s home business.
News you need to know:
The leader of a group that allegedly stole $8 million worth of cosmetics in Southern California has pleaded guilty to organized retail crime. As Glossy previously reported, the bust was part of the California Highway Patrol’s Organized Retail Crime Program, which has seen the recovery of more than $41 million worth of stolen goods since the program began in 2019.
Estée Lauder’s La Mer is launching a $450 night cream this week. The new Rejuvenating Night Cream contains the brand’s new flagship ingredient, MRA-3, which was developed as an alternative to retinol. It was launched following new European Union regulations that limit the amount of retinol that can be included in skin and body care products.
Bath & Body Works has partnered with Netflix to launch a new line of “Stranger Things”-inspired candles, following a line of products focused on the “Bridgerton” family released earlier this year.
Clean(er) Beauty Shop, an independent online beauty store and brick-and-mortar retailer, is closing its doors at the end of this month after seven years in business.
Clean beauty skincare brand Indy Lee, which is sold at retailers including Credo Beauty, Nordstrom and Ulta Beauty, has been acquired by American Exchange Group. This marks the group’s second beauty acquisition, following last year’s purchase of AX Beauty Brands (formerly Hatch Collective), which owns Naturewell, Orlando Pita Play, Texture and Paint & Petals.
Headline:
Channing Tatum is the new face of Versace’s Eros fragrance. CAA’s brand incubators Creative Beauty and Pley Beauty collapse, leaving contractors unpaid. Beautifying bug repellent. SK-II opens immersive concept store in Kuala Lumpur. This functional one-piece suit aims to provide the same benefits as a pricey lymphatic drainage massage. Influencer-founded Divi enters Target’s Ulta Beauty with plans to become a $100 million hair care business by 2025. Teen feminine hygiene startups increasingly enter the wholesale business.
listen:
On this week’s Glossy Beauty Podcast, teens talk all things beauty, including their skincare routines, which social media to follow, and their Sephora shopping habits.
Want a recap of Glossy?
Why dating apps are the new marketing hotspot for beauty brands. Lisa Rinna and Elsa Hosk join Glossy Beauty Pop speakers. An inside look at Lush’s brick-and-mortar remodel. Estée Lauder bets on the sleep business with new nighttime beauty products. Issa Rae’s Sienna Naturals comes to Sephora. Patrick Ta is quietly building a blush empire (again). Substack is boosting sales for emerging brands. Macy’s turns to fragrance as department stores transform.
