Let\u2019s say you\u2019re on Instagram and an influencer post pops up. She\u2019s trying a new concealer and she has your exact skin tone. You see her positive review validated by many others in the comments.<\/p>\n
And you decide to purchase the product right away \u2014 a decision that\u2019s never been easier than it is now on social media.<\/p>\n
That would place you among the nearly 60% of social media shoppers who are now discovering and buying beauty products \u2014 an \u201cunprecedented transformation\u201d in online retail, according to new proprietary research from Advantage Unified Commerce (AUC), which surveyed more than 5,000 shoppers. Beauty was the second-most purchased category in social commerce, according to the study, just behind apparel and followed by personal care items.<\/p>\n
Brands, ignore it at your own peril: Beauty shoppers are increasingly discovering and shopping for beauty products on social media first.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis shift of shoppers buying more beauty product on social platforms has really accelerated in the past year or so, as social platforms have increasingly emphasized shopping in their functionality,\u201d said Sydnie Burton, director of behavioral intelligence for Advantage Unified Commerce, a division of Advantage Solutions that provides omnichannel retail strategy<\/strong> solutions across e-commerce, lifestyle and retail platforms.<\/p>\n And AUC \u2014 a top-five Amazon advertiser and its largest full-service partner \u2014 has the expertise and insights to help brands grow their platform-specific campaigns to grow sales, Burton said.<\/p>\n The sheer ease of purchase cannot be denied. No longer do shoppers have to navigate a complex multi-step process to get to the point of purchase, Burton said. Instagram was the top social media platform for beauty commerce purchases, per the study, followed by Facebook and TikTok (which is back after a brief hiatus, at least temporarily).<\/p>\n Beauty shoppers are experiential in nature: It helps to see, feel and smell what you\u2019re putting on your skin, making in-store and digital sampling a critical component of a brand\u2019s marketing plan. Advantage also offers teams of beauty advisors who work with major retailers to help convert shoppers into buyers, as well as a digital sampling team that develops and ships subscription-based \u201cbeauty boxes\u201d to shoppers\u2019 homes that introduce new products.<\/p>\n In today\u2019s market, though, brands must take a 360-degree approach to reaching shoppers where they are \u2014 and that\u2019s increasingly online. Reviews and influencer testimonials play a growing role in inspiring purchases, AUC research shows, with some 67% of beauty social shoppers reporting they relied on reviews to make their choices, while 44% said influencer recommendations helped to validate the quality of the product.<\/p>\n Another key takeaway?<\/p>\n Social beauty shoppers are increasingly expecting clean beauty products that are free from harmful chemicals, as well as more sustainable and eco-friendly beauty products.<\/p>\n \u201cClean beauty used to be more of a niche \u2014 now it\u2019s an expectation,\u201d Burton said. \u201cThat\u2019s especially true for younger social shoppers.\u201d<\/p>\n To read more findings from the AUC research \u2014 and learn how AUC can help brands grow social commerce \u2014 check out the research overview here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Let\u2019s say you\u2019re on Instagram and an influencer post pops up. She\u2019s trying a new concealer and she has your exact skin tone. You see her positive review validated by many others in the comments. And you decide to purchase the product right away \u2014 a decision that\u2019s never been easier than it is now […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2282,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"mrktblog-category":[41],"class_list":["post-2283","mrktblog-posts","type-mrktblog-posts","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","mrktblog-category-advantage-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Clean Beauty Expectation<\/h3>\n