More than a quarter of Australian women who purchase cosmetics now buy their ‘health and beauty products’ online, according to new research by Roy Morgan.
The Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia) report into Health and Beauty Product sales in 2018 found that over 5.3 million Australian women purchase cosmetics in an average six months, up from 4.8 million women in 2014 – “and this growing market is increasingly turning to online options to purchase their cosmetics and skincare products”.
Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine believes that online is “increasingly the place to be to capture a growing slice of this rising market” in cosmetics.
“Although the market is growing quickly the increasing shift to online will catch out retailers with business models not suited to the new realities,” she says.
“Already this year high profile Australian makeup retailer Napoleon Perdis has entered administration with the immediate closure of half their stores as competitive pressures became too great.
“The entry of online retailers such as Amazon to the Australian market provides additional competitive tension but the success of Australian chemists and pharmacies in growing their online presence proves that with the right strategy there is growth to be had.”
The Roy Morgan report notes that the shift to online purchasing of cosmetics is having a definitive impact on what types of stores Australian women purchase cosmetics from with the biggest winners so far being chemists/pharmacies such as Priceline, Chemist Warehouse and My Chemist.
“Now 42 percent of women who buy cosmetics buy from a chemist or pharmacy (whether in-store or online)”, she says, adding that this a nine percent increase “in only four years despite the increasing shift online”.
“Over 21 percent of women who buy cosmetics have bought from Priceline/ Priceline Pharmacy and nearly 15 have have bought from Chemist Warehouse – clearly the two market leaders. Chemist Warehouse even bills itself as ‘Australia’s Cheapest Online Pharmacy’.”
The report also reveals that over the last four years there have been slight declines in the proportion of Australian women who purchase cosmetics from supermarkets to 23 percent (down from 24 percent), for department stores to 13 percent (down from 16 percent) and for discount department stores to 9 percent (down from 12 percent).
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