How can cosmetic brands precisely respond to the diverse needs of different consumers?

Industry Status

Europe, the Middle East and Africa led the market in early Q22025, with sales up 14% year on year, indicating strong consumer engagement in these markets, followed by Asia Pacific with a modest 5% increase.

In early Q22025, health and beauty products saw year-on-year growth in several key markets, with Italy, Spain, France, and the UK standing out as strong performers that maintained robust growth momentum throughout April-May 2025.

In early 2025, nutritional gels and chewable health supplements led the category growth in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, outpacing traditional beauty products. Perfumes and skincare products maintained steady growth, while hair styling products and cosmetics continued their stable expansion.

Consuming Behavior

Data from mid-April 2025 shows that it takes consumers an average of 18 days from the first product view to the purchase, and even the fastest 25% of buyers take 19 minutes to complete the purchase, an increase of 7% compared to the same period in 2024.

Globally, 90% of beauty consumers say they typically order a new product online the same day they see it. This "see and buy" behavior is particularly common in Germany and South Korea, where as many as 94% of consumers complete purchases the same day they see a product.

Consumers in different regions adopt distinct purchasing patterns for beauty products. In South Korea, online shopping dominates, with 60% of consumers opting for digital purchases. In France and Germany, physical stores remain the primary channel. In the United States and Japan, however, a balanced distribution of purchasing channels exists, with many consumers alternating between online and in-store purchases.

Marketing Strategy

Globally, beauty consumers are very careful when shopping. 66% of consumers compare prices online and 53% check reviews. Meanwhile, 52% of consumers compare prices with their phones when shopping in physical stores.

It is recommended that consistent, clear and compelling brand messages are consistently delivered at every point of contact with consumers, which is the key to winning consumer trust.

Over half (52%) of Gen Z beauty consumers spend more time exploring new products, compared to 42% and 35% among Gen Y and Gen X respectively. Overall, 43% of consumers prefer to take their time when making purchases.

To attract Gen Z and millennials to beauty, it is recommended to focus on building a multi-touchpoint discovery journey, stimulating curiosity through storytelling and inspiration-driven advertising, and rewarding deep explorers with fun interactions.

Search still has a slight advantage in random browsing without a clear goal, especially in South Korea (41%) and France (37%).

To effectively reach consumers with clear purposes and curious consumers, it is recommended that advertising campaigns be fully deployed across channels and customized for different purchase intentions.