What’s *Really* Happening in Health & Beauty E-commerce

Health and beauty growth has reportedly declined since mid-March but “has still been running quite a bit ahead of where it was earlier in [2020].”
Health and beauty growth has reportedly declined since mid-March but “has still been running quite a bit ahead of where it was earlier in [2020].”

Despite being confined to their homes and venturing out into public under a variety of face masks, consumers are still committed to daily beauty and personal care regimens.

According to data from Channel Advisor, the health and beauty category had year-over-year (YoY) growth that spiked in mid-March. The growth has reportedly declined since but “has still been running quite a bit ahead of where it was earlier in [2020].”

The gross merchandise value (GMV) trends data, which was collected from Channel Advisor’s global customer base, was presented in the report “The Impact of COVID-19 on E-commerce GMV, Part 4.”

Channel Advisor reported that so far in 2020:

  • Hand sanitizers saw “an astronomical increase” in early March.
  • Hand washes also had increased YoY growth in early March but began to taper off in April.
  • Health and beauty subcategories, including vitamins, supplements and herbs/botanicals, saw strong YoY growth, which peaked in mid-March but remained above the category average through the first part of April.
  • Beginning in March, Channel Advisor saw a decline in YoY growth within health and beauty’s discretionary categories—i.e., lip care, nail care, color cosmetics. Data reportedly suggests that a bottom was hit at the end of March and a recovery has begun.
  • The spike in YoY growth in nail subcategories is due to an increase in at-home manicures and pedicure, the company speculated.
  • Hair color and clippers/trimmers have both experienced YoY growth since mid- to late-March.

For more information, please visit www.channeladvisor.com.

More in Digital/E-commerce