by Megan Moyer, corporate marketing manager, as appeared in Inside Beauty for Drug Store News

There’s good news when it comes to the beauty category — sales are trending up. According to Accelerated Analytics — a company focused on helping brands improve their sales and inventory management by collecting, harmonizing, and then reporting on retail point of sale data — there has been a 4% year-to-date increase (January 1, 2023 – June 10, 2023). This time last year, sales were decelerating with downward trends.

The Accelerated Analytics beauty index tracks approximately $6 billion in annual retail sales across prestige and consumer beauty. The index is organized geographically using U.S. Census regions including the West, Midwest, Northeast and South.

As might be expected, both Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day drove substantial promotional lift. The impact of Easter was muted.

Outlooks gathered from top retailers that participated in Drug Store News’ recent Inside Beauty Forum reinforced predictions in earlier articles for Drug Store News’ Inside Beauty e-newsletter from Chad Symens, president and CEO of Accelerated Analytics, in the article, Using Data to Monitor Trends, Consumer Behavior and Inventory, and Angela Umelo, cosmetic chemist, product developer and founder of Salt and Earth Labs, in the article Trends Touchbase. Symens and Umelo predicted the wellness trend would continue, and executives from Walgreens, CVS and Walmart spoke about wellness as they discussed their approaches to beauty.

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Umelo also touched on personalization earlier in the year – specifically in hair care. Executives from CVS spoke about personalization in broader terms, indicating “personalization at the shelf” is important to shoppers feeling seen.

Shoppers will also feel seen through engagement opportunities, something that CVS has employed, according to CosPro Marketing, in the article, Creating Customer Engagement Opportunities. At the Inside Beauty Forum, Walgreens indicated their beauty consultants are trained all year long to give the customers a “sense of caring.” When customers feel individually appreciated and are engaged by store personnel, expect increased satisfaction and loyalty.

Determining where those opportunities for engagement lie is important to accelerating sales, and data can point you in the right direction. Further delving into their data, Accelerated Analytics reports these regional trends:

• The West is up to 8% YTD in comparison to 2022 and is ranked 2 of 4 in volume. California and then Arizona are the two largest volume states.
• The Midwest is up 5% YTD in comparison to 2022 and is ranked 3 of 4 in volume. Ohio and then Illinois are the two largest volume states.
• The Northeast is up 13% YTD in comparison to 2022 and is ranked 4 of 4 in volume. New York and then New Jersey are the two largest volume states.
• The South is up 1% YTD in comparison to 2022 and is ranked 1 of 4 in volume. Texas and then Florida are the two largest volume states.

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Examining what factors might be driving higher sales in certain states over others could provide the tactics you can try deploying to boost sales in the lower performing states. Building your strategies based on data analysis will provide more reliable outcomes.

The beauty segment continues to evolve quickly, and consumer behaviors are always shifting. Finding a reliable resource for business intelligence as a foundation for setting your direction and areas of focus are the best place to start. Responding to the insights revealed in the data is the next step. This may require working with a trusted partner who can help beauty brands activate the data at shelf.