Retail behemoth, Net-a-Porter, has shed some light on how its customers are shopping for beauty on the e-commerce platform.
Speaking to Vogue Business, Net-a-Porter beauty director, Newby Hands, revealed some interesting data about what consumers are buying depending on their region and age.
The beauty category is offered to shoppers in over 170 countries but the popularity of products differs greatly. "Hong Kong customers purchased 1,013 per cent more face palettes than the second best-selling region. British clients buy a third more eyelash products than anyone else, while Bucharest recorded a 220 per cent increase in serum sales in the past year," writes Vogue Business journalist, Cheryl Wischhover.
Hands also told Wischhover that in the US, L.A residents buy a lot of Charlotte Tilbury lipsticks, while New Yorkers want serums, masks and primers. In Kansas, sales for La Mer have recently catapulted.
When it comes to age groups, Net-a-Porter customers under the age of 40 like to buy beauty from an edited selection of, "about a dozen or so products". Hands also said that social media is a big driver of purchases but over 80 per cent of their consumers said they're "extremely likely" to buy a product they've seen in a print publication.
The site has seen an increase in sales of beauty tools. The top sellers being the Angela Caglia rose quartz face roller, Dr. Dennis Gross SpectraLite eye mask and Nurse Jamie uplift roller. Hands attributes the success of these to their simplicity and ease of use. “As one facialist said to me recently, ‘They have to pass the Netflix test.’ Can you do them watching TV? If the answer is yes, the better they sell,” she explains.
Some other interesting takeaways include the fact that customers appear to be attracted to brands with strong founder stories, especially those launched by women.
And finally, consistent with global trends, prestige skincare is Net-a-Porter's top beauty category. The four most-popular brands being La Mer, Dr. Barbara Sturm, 111SKIN and Tata Harper.
