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Shoppers’ appetite for beauty products shows no signs of slowing, and mass beauty remains an enormous opportunity. The U.S. beauty and personal care market is valued at $85.06 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow to $99.23 billion by 2026, according to an August 2022 Statista report. Mass beauty customers represent the lion’s share of U.S. beauty shoppers, with 71% of purchases coming from these new-to-brand shoppers, according to 2021 Amazon internal data. Brands that understand the nuances of mass beauty shoppers’ journeys and position themselves along critical moments in the path-to-purchase stand to reach new and loyal beauty audiences.
“Media consumption has become increasingly fragmented with customers engaging across multiple touchpoints — from Amazon’s online store to Twitch to streaming T.V. — in their discovery journey,” said Jeannie Morton, beauty sales leader at Amazon Ads. “It starts with understanding customers’ needs and sculpting a marketing plan to help improve reach and deliver inspiring brand messaging to delight beauty shoppers across devices and ad experiences.”
Advertisers who understand beauty shopping journeys, and can navigate them, may be better equipped to reach relevant audiences with messages that resonate.
Encourage shopper discovery while browsing
According to an internal Kantar and Amazon Ads 2021 survey, nearly 1 in 3 mass brand shoppers said they browse before making a beauty purchase. Shoppers also discover new beauty products through non-branded browsing on Amazon. Amazon Internal 2021 data revealed that the top five non-branded mass beauty categories on Amazon.com include makeup, body wash, hair dryers, hair clips and makeup organizers. Identifying the top categories for browsing allows brands to highlight hero products that meet the needs of in-category shoppers.
Connect with shoppers through eco-friendly brand messaging
According to the same Kantar and Amazon Ads survey, mass beauty shoppers’ key considerations include products free from animal testing, products that are made with environmentally conscious ingredients, and products that are free from parabens, sulfates and phthalates.
Brands can build brand trust and connect with beauty shoppers by highlighting examples of these sustainability values in upper-funnel advertising solutions, including streaming TV and streaming audio and through their Amazon storefronts. In fact, frequent Amazon beauty shoppers are 2.5x more likely to find products through these types of advertising solutions than influencers, and more than two-thirds of them have strong ad recall, according to internal Kantar and Amazon Ads research.
Reach mass beauty shoppers in an adjacent category
Reaching shoppers across complementary beauty categories can also help brands attract new customers. More than 7 in 10 new-to-category shoppers surveyed made a purchase in adjacent categories on Amazon before discovering and purchasing a mass beauty product, with a higher purchase propensity for professional skincare and luxury skincare, according to 2021 Amazon internal research.
“We found that 58% of frequent Amazon beauty shoppers browse or shop in Amazon’s store at least once a week,” said Morton, citing the same Kantar and Amazon Ads survey. “Of these frequent mass beauty shoppers, only 11% have a specific brand or product in mind while shopping, giving brands the opportunity to connect with shoppers in multiple beauty categories.”
Brands looking to reach mass beauty shoppers may consider leveraging digital advertising solutions to help inspire these shoppers to find new product offerings. Expanding audience reach by including related categories, such as professional skincare and luxury skincare, may attract mass beauty shoppers browsing the premium aisle.
Meet beauty shoppers where they are
Beauty audiences shop, browse and view content across various Amazon properties and devices along their beauty journey. Half of Amazon beauty shoppers surveyed own an Amazon device, such as a Fire TV. And at least 4 in 10 use these devices daily, allowing beauty brands to reach in-category shoppers across multiple touchpoints throughout their shopping journey, according to the same Kantar and Amazon Ads study. Looking beyond display advertising is also proving crucial for beauty brands as they look to refine and optimize their strategies.
Brands also have the ability to reach and build trust with the beauty community on livestreaming channels, like Twitch.
“Within the audience of Twitch users who are also mass beauty shoppers, 90% use Twitch at least once a week,” Morton said. “The Kantar and Amazon Ads study also found that more than half of mass beauty Twitch consumers said that Twitch is extremely or very likely to impact their mass beauty purchases.”
With Twitch, brands have an opportunity to meet customers in community-led environments relevant to their interests.
Frequent mass beauty customers have dynamic journeys across multiple Amazon touchpoints throughout their path to purchase. Brands that leverage a strategic mix of lower-, mid- and upper-funnel solutions can reach their audience in places and moments they choose to engage. Identifying related categories that mass beauty shoppers are interested in could help brands build awareness, increase consideration and drive conversion. Ultimately, these strategies can help inspire and service beauty shoppers in the mass beauty aisle.
