What's the Popular Cosmetics among Chinese Consumers during 618 Promotion?

The 2022 China 618 promotion is said to have attracted much attention. Because it is not only the first 618 promotion in China after the decline of new consumption in the second half of 2021 but also the first S-level e-commerce promotion after the unsealing of the epidemic in Shanghai, China. During the 618 promotion, facial serums, eye creams, and sunscreens became the most popular categories for Chinese consumers.

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China's e-commerce mid-year 618 promotion is coming to an end, but many beauty brands are still offering discounts. Therefore, many people are taking advantage of the last minute to buy their favorite cosmetics. After all, the next big discount event is only half a year away. So what are the most popular cosmetics in the 618 promotion? What are Chinese consumers buying?

As of June 5, 2022, China Standard Time (all times in this article are China Standard Time), the sales of China's beauty and skincare industry reached 1.825 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 13.7%. This year's 618 skincare industry sales peaks appeared on May 26, May 27, and June 1. The main reason was that Chinese head-carrying anchor Li Jiaqi, etc., started live streaming on the first day of the 618 pre-sale, which has driven sales and popularity.

First, let’s take a look at the brands. In the 618 promotion in 2022 (as of June 5), the top 5 brands in terms of sales are L’Oreal Paris, La Mer, Estee Lauder, Olay, and Lancome. Among them, L'Oreal Paris ranked TOP1, with a year-on-year increase of 13.8% in sales.

In addition, the fastest growing TOP5 brands are UNISKIN, INOHERB, MedRepair, YUESAI, and Simpcare, with growth rates of 846.6%, 477.2%, 405.4%, 329.5%, and 305.6% respectively.

Among these "dark horse" brands, the most popular product among Chinese consumers is the "INOHERB Gentian Repairing Freeze-Dried Essence Mask", which has a preferential price of $51/50 pieces. As of June 5, the single product sales exceeded $10.444 million, the main functions are repairing and moisturizing; there is also "UNISKIN Cleanser", as of June 5th, the single product sales exceeded 10,145,600 US dollars, and the preferential price of the event was $21 / 3 sticks. The main functions are refreshing, deep cleaning, and soothing.

Let’s take a look at what cosmetics Chinese consumers like to buy. During the 618 periods in 2022, the top 3 categories in terms of sales are facial serum, eye cream, and sunscreen.

Facial serum sales reached $448 million as of June 5. Among them, OLAY is the brand with the highest sales in this category, with sales of $45 million and a market share of 10.7%. Its representative product is "OLAY Advanced Light-Perfecting Essence", with the main functions of brightening skin tone, moisturizing and improving dullness. The preferential price of the event is $74/100ml, and the sales of this single product are $15 million.

The second-ranked category in terms of sales is sunscreen products, with sales of $112 million, of which Mistine’s sales are $15 million, making it the brand with the highest sales in this category, with a market share of 13.9%. The brand's best-selling product is "Mistine Base Ultra Protection"(SPF50 and PA++++) at a discounted price of $30/180ml, with a single product sales of over $11.3392 million.

The third-ranked category is eye cream, with sales of $75 million. Among them, Estee Lauder's sales reached $15 million, and Lancome's sales exceeded $10.444 million, ranking first and second in the eye cream category respectively. The hot-selling products of the two brands are "Advanced Night Repair Eye Supercharged Complex Synchronized Recovery" for anti-wrinkle, the event price is $79/15ml, and the sales of a single product exceed $5.3712 million. the event price of "Lancome The Absolue Eye Cream" is $167/40ml, the single product sales exceed 6.4156 million US dollars, and the main functions are moisturizing and anti-wrinkle.

It is worth noting that this year, Chinese male consumers' searches for "beauty skin care" related products have increased by 27% year-on-year. It can be seen from this that men's research on beauty shows the consumption trend of de-labeling and de-gendering of the "He Economy".

Men's needs are being awakened, but at present, their needs are still limited to basic skin care products such as creams, facial cleansers, toners, and sunscreens, and even the proportion of facial cleansers is not higher than 60%. Male consumers do not do much research when choosing products and are more easily affected by brand awareness. "The entire market has great potential, but it is not easy to recommend." An industry insider expressed his opinion on the men's beauty and skincare track.