Quarterly Commerce Marketing Benchmarks for Beauty Brands

Beauty shopper intent in the UK showed multiple peaks throughout the year, reflecting promotion- and trend-driven behavior rather than a single peak season. Q4 remained an important period, though intent was more evenly distributed across the year, highlighting the need to align launches and promotions with ongoing seasonal rhythms.

Q4 lift highlights opportunity beyond websites

Purchase Intent Rates on brand websites rose in Q4, reflecting stronger conversion readiness during peak retail periods. 

Media conversion likelihood was surprisingly low. Media conversion likelihood was surprisingly low, potentially due to many brands directing shoppers to their own websites rather than offering direct checkout options.

Still, the media reaches a much larger audience, presenting an opportunity to capture demand earlier. Commerce-enabled campaigns across social, search, and other media can drive incremental conversion and help build more effective first-party audiences.

Media mix supports discovery

Media-driven Purchase Intent Clicks were split between organic and paid search, with paid social also contributing. Google dominated search-driven engagement, while TikTok and Snapchat were the leading social platforms. 

This mix shows UK Beauty brands rely on both research-driven and visually inspiring channels to influence purchase decisions.

Retailer mix reflects mass and specialty leadership

Amazon captured the largest share of Beauty Purchase Intent Clicks, closely followed by Boots and Superdrug. Specialty retailers such as The Perfume Shop and Look Fantastic were also promoted by brands and played meaningful roles, highlighting the importance of covering both mass and specialty channels.

Retailer rankings in Beauty fluctuate quarter over quarter, driven less by structural changes and more by short-term factors such as product availability, brand-led promotional activity, and retailer placement within commerce-enabled brand content. These dynamics help explain why some major Beauty retailers, including Sephora, may not appear in the rankings for a given quarter, despite their overall market significance.

Beauty shopper activity in France peaked around May, June, October, November, and December, reflecting promotional and gifting moments rather than a single sustained season. Q4 remained a key period, driven by holiday campaigns and year-end gifting behavior.

Q4 lift in conversion likelihood across channels

Purchase Intent Rates rose in Q4 on both brand websites and media, reflecting stronger shopper conversion readiness. 

Brand websites continue to present high conversion potential among qualified, lower-funnel shoppers, while media reaches much larger audiences. Shoppable media campaigns further boost performance, capturing earlier-stage intent and driving incremental demand at scale.

Brands rely on search to drive shopper intent

Beauty brands were primarily driving shopper traffic with search, with Google capturing the biggest share of Purchase Intent Clicks. Meta was the leading social platform for shopper traffic, reflecting the importance of visual and trend-driven platforms in Beauty. 

Expanding commerce-enabled media paths can help Beauty brands capture additional high-intent shoppers.

Retailer mix reflects mass and specialty Beauty leadership

Amazon and Nocibé led Purchase Intent Clicks, followed by Sephora, Marionnaud, and CDiscount. This mix highlights the importance of providing shoppers with choice across mass, specialty, and online retailers to align with diverse purchasing preferences.

Beauty shopper intent in Germany peaked in May, aligning with Mother’s Day gifting, with a secondary lift in February likely tied to Valentine’s Day. Activity remained elevated into early summer before softening in the second half of the year. 

Search dominates media-driven intent

Media-driven Purchase Intent Clicks in Germany were overwhelmingly driven by search, led by Google. Organic and paid search together accounted for the majority of activity, highlighting the importance of research-led discovery in the German Beauty market. 

Social platforms played a more limited role, suggesting an opportunity for Beauty brands to expand shoppable social activation to capture incremental demand.

Retailer mix reflects marketplace and specialty leadership

Amazon led Beauty Purchase Intent Clicks in Germany, followed by specialty retailers including Douglas and Flaconi. Drugstore dm and online specialists like ParfumDreams also contributed, underscoring the importance of offering shoppers choice across marketplaces, specialty beauty, and drugstore retailers.

Beauty shopper intent in the Netherlands was strongest in March and April, reflecting spring-driven brand promotions and shopper activity.

Activity softened gradually through the second half of the year, with Q4 contributing a smaller share of annual shopper intent compared with other European markets.

Search and social discovery 

Discovery traffic was led by organic search, supported by paid social. Google dominated media-driven engagement, while Meta was the primary social platform, with TikTok contributing incremental reach. This mix reflects brand promotion strategies and shopper movement between research-led discovery and visually driven inspiration channels.

Retailer mix reflects drugstore and marketplace strength

Kruidvat led Beauty Purchase Intent Clicks, followed by Bol and Etos, highlighting the importance of drugstore and general marketplace retailers in the Dutch Beauty landscape. Amazon and Albert Heijn also contributed, reinforcing the value of offering shoppers broad retailer choice aligned with local shopping habits.

In Spain, Beauty shopper intent showed multiple peaks throughout the year, with the strongest activity in March and October. Q4 remained relevant, driven by holiday promotions and gifting, while spring spikes reflect routine purchasing and seasonal product launches.

Q4 lift in conversion likelihood across channels

Purchase Intent Rates were higher in Q4 compared to the yearly average across both brand websites and media, signaling stronger conversion readiness. 

Brand websites continue to convert highly qualified shoppers, while media captures broader audiences, particularly through shoppable campaigns, supporting incremental demand.

Paid social drives shopper traffic

Paid social accounted for the majority of media-driven Purchase Intent Clicks, followed by organic and paid search. Meta and TikTok were the dominant social platforms, reflecting the importance of visually driven, trend-led content in influencing Spanish Beauty shoppers.

Retailer mix highlights mass and specialty strength

Amazon and leading Spanish drugstore chains, including Druni and Primor, captured the largest shares of Purchase Intent Clicks. Department stores like El Corte Inglés and Carrefour contributed additional reach, emphasizing the need for brands to maintain broad retailer coverage across mass, specialty, and omnichannel destinations.

In Italy, shopper intent spiked in March and November, reflecting seasonal product launches and holiday promotions. Q4 remained an important period for conversion, highlighting the impact of gifting and retail campaigns.

Q4 lift in conversion likelihood across media

Purchase Intent Rates in Q4 increased on media while slightly decreasing on brand websites compared to yearly averages. 

While brand websites continue to convert highly qualified shoppers at higher rates, media reaches broader audiences, supporting incremental demand and brand exposure via shoppable campaigns.

Search and paid social drive shopper traffic

Paid social dominated media-driven Purchase Intent Clicks, followed by organic and paid search. Meta led social engagement, reflecting the influence of visually driven, trend-focused content in Beauty.

Retailer mix highlights mass and specialty strength

Amazon captured the largest share of Beauty Purchase Intent Clicks in Italy, followed by specialty retailers Douglas and Sephora. Other online specialty retailers, such as Pinalli and eFarma, also contributed meaningfully, emphasizing the importance of broad retail coverage across mass, specialty, and digital channels.