The beauty path to purchase is becoming more complex

Physical stores matter most for driving awareness. Stores remain the top channel for new beauty product discovery by far, per our 2024 US Consumer Path to Purchase survey. But online, social media platforms outrank multibrand retailers’ digital channels in driving product discovery, with the most pronounced impact among Gen Z shoppers.

Quality ranks alongside price as a top factor driving conversion for beauty shoppers. This is a departure from most other categories covered in our US Consumer Path to Purchase survey, where price tends to lead by a wider margin. But the share of beauty consumers who ranked price as a driving factor increased by 4.3 percentage points over our 2023 survey.

Trusted recommendations matter to beauty shoppers. After price (39.6%), quality (36.9%), and discounts (33.2%), positive online ratings and reviews are the next most important factor (23.3%) driving conversion among beauty product shoppers. Celebrity and influencer endorsements matter more to beauty buyers than other categories (16.2%).

Influencers have significantly more sway among Gen Z and social shoppers. Gen Z consumers are more than 2.5 times as likely to be swayed by celebrity and influencer endorsements of beauty products (30.1% versus 12.1%), per our Path to Purchase survey. Half of social shoppers in our US Social Commerce survey reported purchasing a beauty product as a result of creator/influencer content.

Read the full report, Beauty Ecommerce 2025.