Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin
Consumers may be watching their dollars and looking for bargains on groceries, apparel, and electronics, but there is one category where they are spending freely online – cosmetics. Adobe Analytics data released today shows online sales of cosmetics are up 8.8 percent since January, at $16.3 billion, and more significantly, that sales of the most expensive cosmetics are surging.
New Evidence of “Lipstick Effect”
Adobe recently began breaking out online cosmetic sales as a separate category it is studying and its data is providing support for the “lipstick effect” theory that consumers splurge on small luxuries when they feel they can’t afford bigger ones. Adobe found that sales of the most expensive lipsticks offered online were up 37.1% and sales of the most expensive fragrances were up 19.4%. The opposite is happening in product categories like electronics, apparel, home and garden, furniture, and grocery, where sales of the least expensive items have increased, while sales of the most expensive goods have declined. Last month Adobe reported that U.S. consumers increasingly are seeking out cheaper options when shopping online.
“It seems that consumers are being pretty cautious and price sensitive and conservative when buying a lot of different types of discretionary goods, but lipsticks, fragrances, other cosmetics are something where they’re really looking to indulge and splurge a bit more,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst, Adobe Digital Insights, in an interview discussing the findings.
MORE FOR YOU
- ‘Squad’ Rep. Jamaal Bowman Unseated By Latimer In Pricey New York Primary
- Sha’Carri Richardson, Cole Hocker, And Anna Hall Dominate U.S. Track & Field Olympic Trials
- The 11 Best Mattresses Of 2024, According To Testing
Adobe bases its reports on data culled from over one trillion consumer visits to U.S. ecommerce sites, covering 18 product categories and 100 million SKUs. Adobe, in its report released May 9, broke out cosmetics as separate category for the first time, due to the strong growth it was seeing in that sector. The growth in cosmetics is driven both by the desire to splurge on small luxuries during unpredictable economic times, and social media buzz about certain beauty products, Pandya said.
Purple Lipstick, Plumping Lip Gloss Top Trends
Adobe’s statistics serve as a measurement of current beauty trends. Its data shows sales of purple-toned lipsticks are up 103 percent year-over-year; lengthening mascara is up 30.9 percent year-over-year, concealers and foundations are up 51.5 percent, and pink-toned lipsticks are up about 61 percent. Sales of plumping lip gloss are up 60 percent year-over-year.
“This is pretty exciting given that when we look at other categories we see low single digit, moderate growth and here cosmetics is a category that’s really driving up momentum,” Pandya said.
Cosmetics have enjoyed much stronger growth online this year than electronics, apparel and … [+] furniture, according to new Adobe Analytics data. Courtesy of Adobe
While electronics, apparel, furniture and groceries are the largest ecommerce categories in terms of spending share, accounting for over 50 percent of online spending, cosmetics have shown stronger growth, Adobe reported. Consumers spent $35 billion online for cosmetics in 2023, up 15.6 percent over 2022, Adobe reported.
Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Joan Verdon
Following Editorial Standards
Print Reprints & Permissions
