More Aussies buying cosmetics and skincare products online

Remedios Lucio

26th Feb 2019

More and more Australian women are choosing to buy cosmetics and skincare products online rather than in bricks-and-mortar stores.

Based on a study of around 4000 Australian women aged 14 and over, Roy Morgan estimates that over a quarter of the approximately 5.3 million Australians who purchase cosmetics in an average six months did so online in 2018.

This is up from an earlier study Roy Morgan conducted in 2014, when only 18 per cent of the roughly 4.8 million women, who purchased cosmetics in an average six month period at that time, did so online.

“Australia’s cosmetics industry has grown significantly over the last four years with … 51 per cent of Australian women (5.3 million) now buying cosmetics in an average six months up from 49 per cent (4.8 million) four years ago,” she said.

“Increasingly the place to be to capture a growing slice of this rising market is online,” said Levine.

According to Roy Morgan, chemists and pharmacies are doing a better job of capturing this increasingly online customer base than supermarkets, department stores and discount department stores.

The research firm found that 42 per cent of women who purchase cosmetics in an average six months in 2018 did so at chemists and pharmacies, whether in-store or online. This was up a significant 9ppts from four years ago.

There has have been slight declines in the proportion of Australian women who purchase cosmetics from supermarkets (down from 24 per cent to 23 per cent), department stores (down from 16 per cent to 13 per cent) and discount department stores (down from 12 per cent to 9 per cent).

Although the market is growing quickly the increasing shift to online will catch out retailers with business models not suited to the new realities. Already this year high profile Australian make-up retailer Napoleon Perdis has entered administration with the immediate closure of half their stores as competitive pressures became too great,” said Levine.

“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.”

This story first appeared on sister site, Inside FMCG.