What the recession has meant for online beauty retailing
Women are leading the way when it comes to online beauty purchases and a recent study by online and TV beauty guide MyFaceMyBody has found that women aged 35-50 are now more web savvy than ever and are spending more than ever at online beauty sites.
According to the study, 55 per cent of respondents reported using an online retailer to purchase cosmetics and skin care aids.
The reasons behind the decision to do so without leaving the house were thanks to faster broadband speeds, a growing awareness of skin health and, due to the economic climate, women find themselves purchasing more skin care online than ever before.
Boost for blogs and online sites
And the people who are seeing the real benefit of this trend are beauty bloggers and skin care websites as they have seen sales rise by up to 10 per cent.
Online shops are benefitting from online skin care retailing, as the idea of these stores is to remove the inconvenience from the sales process and simplify the decision process for the consumer, by giving small snippets of information or recommendations based on needs, and other common skin problems.
Such creativity from online beauty retailers has also contributed to the continued growth of the Internet market. Stephen Handisides, presenter of the Sky TV show MyFaceMyBody, said: "Online beauty retailers can offer a variety of choice, competitive pricing and information/advice which high street retailers just can't compete with.”
And with the growth of interest in beauty blogging and beauty websites, Handisides believes these platforms can benefit from adding an online store to their site and grab a slice of the internet market.
"I believe that with the development of mobile internet and Apps, buying high quality skin care products for specific skin issues, such as acne, sun-damage and anti ageing solutions will boom on the internet," he added.
