Retail trumps online in UK as 25% still purchase their cosmetics in-store

The agency that works to connect brands with consumers based on the analysis it carries out, found that out of the 1,459 respondents surveyed back in April, one in seven buy beauty online, a figure that is on the rise, but that the majority still purchase their cosmetics in-store.

“25 per cent choose to spend in retailers/pharmacies and 23 per cent in department stores, while ​advertisements are the most common way that UK consumers discover new beauty or grooming products, as 28 per cent of respondents ticked this box.”​

Behavioural buying patterns​

The survey also inquired about how UK consumers found out about new beauty or grooming products with 23 per cent attributing friends or word of mouth, 15 per cent by in-store shopping, and 7 per cent through online reviews/blogs/ advertisments and another 7 per cent via magazines.

"Interestingly, the age group that advertising impacts the most is those aged 45-49, at 34 per cent, while those least affected by advertising are adults aged 18-24, at 24 per cent​."

However when it actually came to buying a new product, 34 per cent are most influenced by television and 16 per cent by in-store displays, while newspapers/coupons only influence 7 per cent to buy a new product.

In this instance friend recommendations came out on top with consumers, with 27 per cent selecting this option while 22 per cent selected ‘other’ reasons, and 15 per cent chose testimonials/results while in comparison, celebrity endorsements were only selected by 13 per cent of respondents.

Finally, the survey also gave an insight into beauty consumers’ other interests and characteristics, and revealed that beauty product buyers are 66 per cent more likely to be world travellers that the average person, 52 per cent more likely to be body conscious, 44 per cent more likely to be gardeners, 36 per cent more likely to be white collar workers and 16 per cent more likely to be pet owners.

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