Some retailers are betting that lip glosses, eye shadow palettes and facial scrubs will be the next big thing to drive customers, especially younger ones, to their stores.
As the likes of Ulta Beauty and LVMH-owned Sephora continue to open new locations across the United States, mass retailers like Target and Kohl’s are investing more in beauty and hoping to grow their market share in makeup, nail products and perfumes.
With this, a category that has historically been dominated by America’s department store chains is now increasingly moving out of malls. And while the coronavirus pandemic has driven an overall decline in beauty sales this year, sales of makeup and other personal care items have been surging online, which could prove to permanently shake-up the beauty landscape even further. With department store makeup counters losing clout, beauty could bring big business to companies that were not investing as much in the space before.
... This hesitancy from consumers is clearly there: 41% of people said they felt either “unsafe” or “very unsafe” testing beauty products in stores during the pandemic, according to a survey of 1,097 consumers on Nov. 11 by the retail analytics firm First Insight. Twenty-two percent said they plan to actually buy more beauty products this holiday season compared with last, while 35% said they’re planning to buy less.
at CNBC
