Now the northern hemisphere summer is over, with parts of it such as the UK experiencing some of their hottest temperatures on record, it’s time to have a look at the impact on the skincare category. Here we’re going to look at skincare in the UK, USA, and Australia, using 30 day sales from each skincare categories’ top 100 best match ranked listings.
THE SKINCARE CATEGORY IS LARGE AND GROWING
Skincare is growing globally across all retail channels, including the upward trajectory of skin clinics for resurfacing and injectables.
Skincare on eBay is a very large category. It has 724,000+ listings for Australia, more than 1.6 million listings for the USA, and 880,000+ listings for the UK.
Just from the number of listings alone you can see that Australia over-indexes on skincare versus its population, likely due to having one of the harshest climates on the planet. (Australia also punches above its weight in home-grown skincare brands, often exported).
Three of the largest subcategories in skincare are Anti-Aging, Moisturisers, and Acne/Blemish Control.
Anti-aging – HYALURONIC WHAT?
Australia’s climate is reflected in a bias toward anti-aging products. When we look at total skincare subcategory listings across Australia, the UK and the USA all have anti-aging products with #1 share, but Australia’s percentage is highest at 34% of total skincare listings. Masks/peels and moisturisers sit at #2 and #3 respectively in the Australian listings, where in the US this is reversed and in the UK they are even.
While we often assume that the USA has the largest market due to population, our analysis reveals:
Australia has 8% the population of the USA but achieved more than 50% of their anti-aging sales.
The UK has 20% of the population of the USA but achieved 1.5x their sales. This may be due to the unusual UK summer heatwave that they experienced.
Average spend per product in Anti-Aging is very similar across the USA and AU, but much lower in the UK. Australia is AUD24.24, USA USD19.95, and UK £8.42 (around AUD15). The lower number in the UK is likely partially a result of its number two seller being an unbranded titanium needle roller with a lowly £3.79 median price.
The top 3 selling brands differ radically by country, despite the dominance of global brands in retail, and are a mix of well-known and eBay-grown.
In Australia, the top 3 brands are:
Leonardi (Hyaluronic Serum) at a median price of AUD34.95
Dr Pen derma pen at AUD87.50
Re at AUD19.95.
Well-known brand, L’Oreal, is far down the list with only 2% share of sales and a median price of AUD23.00.
In the USA:
Enchanted Waters (Hyaluronic Serum) at a median price of USD11.95
Lancôme with its youth serum at USD34.99
Cosmesearch at USD16.95
In the UK:
The Ordinary at a median price of £6.68
Sentia (hyaluronic + vitamin C serum) at £10.97
Estee Lauder at £22.98.
It appears that the popularity of the ingredient can outweigh the power of a brand, as seen by the success of Hyaluronic acid amongst niche brands. Hyaluronic acid is just one of a number of single or specific ingredient skincare categories experiencing strong growth. Retinol is another.
MOISTURISERS – MORE ABOUT DRIER CLIMATES
Moisturisers sports a similar number of brands but interestingly fewer sellers than does anti-aging. The average price for moisturisers was similar to that for anti-aging, with Australians spending AUD28.30, Americans USD13.61 and Brits £10.27.
Australia’s moisturiser sales are around 20%, and the UK around half of those of the US. Granted, Australia was at the close of winter at time of writing. Typically moisturisers see an uptick in winter due to the drying nature of air conditioning, but not to the extent of the increase in summer. According to Premium Beauty News.com, 44% of US women who use soap, bath and shower products look for extra moisturisers in the winter months.
Despite the recent heatwave, the UK doesn’t appear to be as big on moisturisers as they are on anti-aging, with moisturisers sales half those of anti-aging and acne/blemish control. The UK climate is evidently less of an issue overall than in Australia or the US. Albeit that all three markets saw weekly unit sales growth of moisturisers.
Brands present an interesting study in contrasts per country.
In Australia, the top sellers in order are:
Clinique’s Dramatically Different with a median price of AUD38.
Shiseido’s Wrinkle Resist, at AUD79.50
COSRX at AUD22.49
In the US:
Missha with a median price of USD21.94
Elizavecca at USD8.26
Clinique at USD15.94
In the UK:
Clinique at £12.95
Scienceboost pure hyaluronic acid at £20.99
The Body Shop Skin Defence at £17
Moisturisers appears to feature more well-known brands than anti-aging or acne/blemish control. In Australia top-selling brands other than Shiseido and Clinique included Clarins. The US also featured Mary Kay, and the UK Elizabeth Arden, Olay, and Kiehl’s.
ACNE AND BLEMISH CONTROL - POLARISED IN PRICE
Interestingly, while acne/blemish control has fewer brands, it has a similar number of sellers as the other subcategories. But the average price is lower, at AUD12.38 in Australia, USD10.86 in the US and £8.42 in the UK.
Again, the top sellers differ markedly by country.
In Australia, the polarised nature of the category was illustrated by:
COSRX at AUD9.75
Jeva at AUD44.95
Académie Scientifique at AUD14.49
In the US:
Proactiv at USD18.30
COSRX at USD3.84
Some by mi at USD12.56
In the UK, all three top sellers came in under £10:
Bio-oil at £7.99
Galderma at £8.30
Oxy at £5.98
Diversity is apparent, with the most popular brands being from India, Korea, South Africa, and of course America and France.
MUCH OF WHAT IS SELLING IS EITHER UNBRANDED, OR NICHE/PREMIUM
Although retail outlets provide the perception of large global brands owning the customer wallet, on eBay niche brands and unbranded products are competing fiercely, except in Moisturisers.
Unbranded products, ranked against brands in terms of sales value achieved:
Anti-Aging: First place in Australia and UK, but did not make the top 10 in the US
Moisturiser: Came it at 9th place in Australia, but did not make the top 10 for the US or UK
Acne/Blemish: First place in Australia, and Second place in the USA and UK.
Final Take-Aways
The rise of specific and single-ingredient products is seeing a concomitant upswing in local, niche, premium and cult products and brands, sometimes at the expense of the traditional major manufacturers. (In a case of ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’, Estée Lauder bought a minority stake in cult brand The Ordinary’s parent company Deciem in 2017).
Although many skincare brands have created products within each category, the popularity of brands varies wildly, revealing opportunity for niche brands.
Whereas moisturisers and anti-aging used to be the domain of French products, it has now become much more diverse with eBay buyers purchasing products that come from all corners of the globe.
The price range amongst best-selling brands is quite large, revealing that shoppers on eBay are willing to pay for more premium products.
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