By the Numbers: Amazon is the Leader in Online Personal Care Sales

Can luxury brands control where distributors are pushing their products?
Can luxury brands control where distributors are pushing their products?

U.S. health and personal care sales dropped by about 1% in the first quarter of 2017, according to new data from One Click Retail. Most of the drop came in the brick-and-mortar channel, while online sales rose. Want to guess who dominated that growth? Amazon, which now has the largest online market share in the category.

In the first quarter, Amazon owned $1.3 billion of the $80.6 billion U.S. health and personal care market. While the overall segment shrunk by 1%, Amazon grew 30%. In 2016, Amazon's sales in the segment totaled $4.7 billion, meaning its Q1 2017 results comprise 27.5% of last year's total.

Further reading: [UPDATE] Amazon Wants to Disrupt the Way You Create, Package and Sell Products

Predictably, sales among Amazon Prime members have greatly outpaced general Amazon shoppers by as much as a factor of 5x. Prime Pantry accounted for 5.5% of health and personal care sales in the first quarter of 2017.

Personal care was the top growth category among Amazon Prime shoppers, led by hair care in the United States.

Further reading: Amazon vs Luxury Beauty

U.S. Personal Care Growth, Amazon

Skin care: 85%

  • Feet, hand and nails: 200%
  • Bath and shower: 80%
  • Body: 70%

U.S. Personal Care Growth, Amazon Prime

Hair care: 85%

  • Styling products: 160%
  • Shampoo and conditioner: 75%

Skin care: 125%

  • Feet, hand and nails: 145%
  • Bath and shower: 145%
  • Skin care: 130%
  • Men's care: 100%

Personal lubricants: 150%

Personal care: 115%

  • Bar soap/body wash: 370%
  • Oral care: 120%
  • Antiperspirants/deodorants: 90%
  • Shaving cream/gels: 80%

U.K. Personal Care Growth, Amazon

Shaving and hair removal: 90%

  • Miscellaneous shaving and hair removal: 180%
  • Razors and sets: 80%

Skin care: 220%

  • Feet: 470%
  • Baby/infant/child: 290%

Personal lubricants: 70%

U.K. Personal Care Growth, Amazon Prime

Bath and shower: 390%

  • Bathing accessories: 390%

Personal care: 200%

Shaving and hair removal: 160%

  • Shaving cream and gels: 360%
  • Razors and sets: 130%

Oral care: 110%

  • Manual toothbrushes: 160%
  • Toothpaste/whiteners/mouthwash: 100%
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