Features

01.23.25

Beauty commerce goes social in ‘unprecedented transformation’ 

Greg Trotter

Let’s say you’re on Instagram and an influencer post pops up. She’s trying a new concealer and she has your exact skin tone. You see her positive review validated by many others in the comments. 

And you decide to purchase the product right away — a decision that’s never been easier than it is now on social media.

That would place you among the nearly 60% of social media shoppers who are now discovering and buying beauty products — an “unprecedented transformation” in online retail, according to new proprietary research from Advantage Unified Commerce (AUC), which surveyed more than 5,000 shoppers. Beauty was the second-most purchased category in social commerce, according to the study, just behind apparel and followed by personal care items.

Brands, ignore it at your own peril: Beauty shoppers are increasingly discovering and shopping for beauty products on social media first.

“This shift of shoppers buying more beauty product on social platforms has really accelerated in the past year or so, as social platforms have increasingly emphasized shopping in their functionality,” said Sydnie Burton, director of behavioral intelligence for Advantage Unified Commerce, a division of Advantage Solutions that provides omnichannel solutions across e-commerce, lifestyle and retail platforms.

And AUC — a top-five Amazon advertiser and its largest full-service partner — has the expertise and insights to help brands grow their platform-specific campaigns to grow sales, Burton said.

The sheer ease of purchase cannot be denied. No longer do shoppers have to navigate a complex multi-step process to get to the point of purchase, Burton said. Instagram was the top social media platform for beauty commerce purchases, per the study, followed by Facebook and TikTok (which is back after a brief hiatus, at least temporarily).

Beauty shoppers are experiential in nature: It helps to see, feel and smell what you’re putting on your skin, making in-store and digital sampling a critical component of a brand’s marketing plan. Advantage also offers teams of beauty advisors who work with major retailers to help convert shoppers into buyers, as well as a digital sampling team that develops and ships subscription-based “beauty boxes” to shoppers’ homes that introduce new products.

In today’s market, though, brands must take a 360-degree approach to reaching shoppers where they are — and that’s increasingly online. Reviews and influencer testimonials play a growing role in inspiring purchases, AUC research shows, with some 67% of beauty social shoppers reporting they relied on reviews to make their choices, while 44% said influencer recommendations helped to validate the quality of the product.

Another key takeaway?

Social beauty shoppers are increasingly expecting clean beauty products that are free from harmful chemicals, as well as more sustainable and eco-friendly beauty products.

“Clean beauty used to be more of a niche — now it’s an expectation,” Burton said. “That’s especially true for younger social shoppers.”

To read more findings from the AUC research — and learn how AUC can help brands grow social commerce — check out the research overview here.