Digital Researcher Greenlight Tracks Online Beauty Search Terms

Consumers made over 2.1 million searches on the web for beauty care products in June, and 38% were made using mobile devices, reveals online search data from independent digital marketing agency Greenlight. Overall, queries pertaining to makeup were the most popular.

The agency's "Beauty Sector Report - Issue 1," the first edition of its quarterly research series covering the sector, identified the most popular keywords used by consumers in June to find skin care, hair care, nail care, makeup and fragrance products on Google UK, when they searched via desktops/laptops and mobile devices. The report also charts the most visible brands, retailers and sites for those searches across both platforms.

According to Greenlight, 1.3 million searches for beauty care products were made via computers, and 816,481 were made using mobile devices. Hair care and fragrances were the second and third most popular sectors search-wise, holding a 31% and 15% share of consumer queries, respectively.

Makeup accounted for 36% of all beauty-related searches, and those pertaining to MAC cosmetics dominated. The term "mac makeup" was queried 40,500 times, making up 8% of laptop-made searches and 12% (33,100) on mobile devices.

Hair care terms clocked up 664,119 searches, of which 19% were made via desktops and 12% on mobile devices. "Hair accessories" and "dip dye hair" were the two most queried terms on desktops, accounting for 9% of searches apiece. However, on mobile devices, the term "dip dye hair" was most popular, accounting for 6% of searches. "GHD hair straightener" and "hair dye" followed with 5,400 each.

Just four of the top ten search terms used to look for fragrances via desktops, searches of which totalled 203,795, were for perfume brands, compared to seven on mobile searches. "Alien perfume" was the most popular brand-related query on mobile device searches. It was followed by "jimmy choo perfume" then "chanel perfume." On desktops, "chanel perfume" was the most popular brand-related term looked for. Across both platforms, however, it was a generic term "perfume" that was the most used to find fragrances online.

Skin care-related searches were least popular on mobiles making up 9% of searches compared to 10% on desktops. But totaling 111,769, nail care terms attracted the least number of beauty product-related searches made on desktops.

Overall, Amazon was most visible site attaining a 34% share of visibility in the organic listings. It was also the most visible advertiser, achieving a 58% share of voice in the paid listings.

Greenlight's retrospective 12 month view of the online beauty market shows searches across both laptop and mobile devices peaked in January, dropping off sharply in February and into March. While they picked up again in April, desktop search volumes in the lead up to June have remained well below levels seen between July 2012 and January this year.

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