Return of Social Gatherings May Spur Beauty Sales

After a year of Zooms and Facetime calls, face-to-face socializing will make a return this holiday season—and that is good news for the beauty industry.
 
Findings from the Accenture’s 15th Annual Holiday Shopping Survey, show that more than half (51%) of people—rising to 59% of consumers under 32 years old— intend to go to parties or to meals out, 44% plan to head out to festive events with others, 59% hope to visit friends and family at home. These social gatherings could lead to an increase in sales, with a quarter (26%) of people overall, and 42% of Gen Z consumers, planning to buy beauty and personal care products because they want to dress up and socialize this holiday season. 
 
What’s more, the desire to look and feel good is likely to continue beyond the holidays, with a third (32%) of people—rising to 48% of young millennials (25-31 years old)—expected to buy cosmetics and personal care products over the next six months, according to Accenture.

“Beauty and cosmetics brands will be hoping for a strong holiday season as consumers show increasing desire and comfort in returning to pre-pandemic activities. Given that consumer demand in beauty is closely linked to being out and about with other people, our findings are especially encouraging,” said Oliver Wright, a senior managing director at Accenture and head of its Consumer Goods & Services industry group globally. “If beauty brands can take a longer view and use this moment as an opportunity to reset their capabilities across the business, they'll be ideally placed to capitalize on returning consumer demand throughout the holidays and beyond.”

More importantly, however, Accenture says the findings indicate that consumers are considering the environmental impacts of their shopping choices this holiday season. 
 
Almost four in 10 (39%) of consumers say that they will opt for cruelty free beauty and personal care this year as they wish for their choices to cause no harm compared to 35% who say that price, and 35% who say that attractive product packaging would definitely make them to buy beauty or personal care items. Further, a quarter (25%) of consumers say that they are worried about climate change and will opt for sustainable beauty and personal care products this year, rising to a third (33%) of Gen Z consumers (18-24 years old).

“The pandemic is making consumers think more about the impact their purchasing decisions are having on the environment and society at large,” Wright said. “In many ways, this pandemic has created an opportunity for companies to attract and engage with consumers in innovative new ways. Just as people are seeking to change for the better, so can beauty companies.”

Despite many likely to shop online this holiday season, the survey shows that in-store shopping is returning, too.   More than half (54%) of people overall, and 70% of Gen Z consumers, plan to do most of their holiday shopping in-store this season, whereas, perhaps surprisingly, 54% of baby boomers (56-69 years old) anticipate doing most of their shopping online, perhaps another sign that the pandemic-induced acceleration in ecommerce adoption is not going away.

In addition, a quarter (24%) of consumers overall— and 41% of young millennials—said that services to make the most of the shopping experience, such as salon for beauty treatments could entice them to shop in-store with one retailer over another.

“While retailers are welcoming shoppers back in-store, the events of the past year are likely to affect the spending habits of different generations of people this holiday season,” said Jill Standish, a senior managing director at Accenture and head of its Retail industry group globally. “Younger generations, more than anyone, appear to be craving the more social, physically interactive, and fun kind of shopping they can get in store. The opportunity for retailers and beauty brands is to tap into these behavioral shifts, to get creative and to experiment with new ways of engaging consumers such as beauty tutorials meet-the-expert sessions.”

The Accenture 15th Annual Holiday Shopping Survey found that total holiday spending is likely to rise this year, with consumers planning to spend $598 this holiday season, on average, compared with $539 last year. Most (71%) said they intend to spend as much or more than they did last year. Older millennials (32-39 years) anticipate spending $705, on average, the highest among any age group.