Study: Nearly half of beauty shoppers turned to mass for beauty in 2014
DENVER — Mass retailers still reign supreme when it comes to stocking up on beauty products. That’s according to the findings of an ongoing shopper behavior study conducted by The Integer Group and M/A/R/C Research.
"The popularity of this channel is most likely due to the variety of product assortment as well as price points provided by mass beauty," stated Craig Elston, EVP of Insight & Strategy at The Integer Group. "Beauty is a category that is personal and fun and comes with an expectation from shoppers that there is an experience that goes along with it."
According to the findings, 42.5% of total beauty shoppers turned to mass retailers for their beauty needs in 2014 — a slight decrease from 43.7% the previous year.
However, despite upgrades to the beauty aisle at both Target and Walmart, shoppers haven't quite latched on to the idea of "mass-tige," according to the report. Beauty mavens continue to seek out upscale beauty experiences elsewhere. Department stores, such as Nordstrom and Macy's, saw the biggest increase in shoppers looking for their beauty needs. Shoppers said it's because department stores offer high-quality products, all of the products they are looking for, and they get to try before they buy. Those reasons are also what draw shoppers to specialty beauty. The study also shows more people buying beauty purchases through Amazon.com, with the percentage doubling in 2014.
Overall, few shoppers conduct online research to find the best beauty products for them. But for those who do conduct online beauty research, they are turning to search engines. Women conduct the most online research in the category, and, aside from search engines, they rely on retailer web sites, brand web sites, and beauty blogs for information. Males rely on retailer and brand web sites, equally, and then turn to magazine web sites. Social media remains the least used resource, according to the study. However, women drive the use of Pinterest as a beauty resource.