Pure Beauty

US consumers drawn to mass retailers and department stores

Published: 18-Jun-2015

Mass retailers are still the most popular beauty destination

Mass retailers are still the most popular beauty destination for consumers, according to a study by The Integer Group.

According to the study, 42.5% of total beauty shoppers turned to mass retailers for their beauty buys in 2014, although this was a small decrease from the 43.7% in the prior year period.

Craig Elston, EPVP of Insight & Strategy at The Integer Group said price and variety were key drivers behind the channel’s popularity. He said: "The popularity of this channel is most likely due to the variety of product assortment as well as price points provided by mass beauty. Beauty is a category that is personal and fun and comes with an expectation from shoppers that there is an experience that goes along with it."

However, when it comes to buying more luxurious items, consumers choose to bypass mass retailers in favour of department stores, such as Nordstrom and Macy's. These types of store saw the biggest increase in shoppers looking for masstige products in 2014. According to the study, shoppers said the reason they turn to department stores is because they offer high quality products, all of the products they are looking for and they get to try before they buy. Those reasons are also what draw shoppers to specialty beauty.

The study also revealed more people are buying beauty purchases through Amazon.com, with the percentage doubling from 2013 to 2014.

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