2016 was full of trends—some that thankfully didn't last (faux freckles, anyone? I didn't think so)—and some that are here to stay. One of those trends is lipstick: whether it's nude, liquid, or a kit, science shows that we are officially obsessed with the stuff (not that we ever had any doubt). We are especially obsessed with buying it online, because online beauty, which includes all kinds of makeup, fragrance, and nail products, is a $1.2 billion industry. Which basically means that if we could somehow find the way to resist buying makeup all the time (impossible), then we would all be rich. Too bad that's never gonna happen.
New data analytics conducted by 1010data reveal that within this huge industry, lip makeup was the fastest growing beauty category last year, with a 26 percent increase in growth. There's obviously a ton of brands that sell their makeup online, but in 2016, the winner was (drumroll please)... MAC! This is no surprise, since every single one of their lipsticks is amazing (I wear this one almost every single day).
MAC's growth in the online beauty industry is probably partly due to the fact that the retailer has its own website, which not all beauty brands do. Another big factor in the popularity of different brands is their social media presence. Last year, Anastasia snagged the top spot as the fastest growing online brand due to their social media strategy, especially on Instagram.
Perhaps one of the most interesting facts that came out of this new study was the top online makeup retailer. Most people, myself included, would assume that a company such as Sephora or Ulta would be #1. However, the data shows that Amazon Marketplace actually accounts for over 20 percent of all online makeup sales. That's about one in every five online beauty purchases!!
As you can see in the chart, Sephora isn't even close to Amazon's amount of sales. Which has me thinking that next time I plan a huge beauty haul, I may be checking out Amazon first... there's gotta be a reason so many people are buying from them, right?
If there's one thing I learned from this, it's that numbers and data are so much more fun to talk about when it has to do with makeup. And also that lipstick rules forever and always, because #science.