Insights
TikTok: A Pretty Powerful Force in Beauty Ecommerce
This excerpt from a report produced in partnership with Statista reveals why TikTok is an increasingly powerful force in ecommerce, particularly for beauty retail.
The future of ecommerce is here. In September 2023, TikTok launched its highly anticipated ecommerce platform TikTok Shop in the US, rolling out in-app purchasing for all American users. The first reports are optimistic: During its launch, TikTok Shop already ranked in the top 20 Beauty & Personal Care ecommerce companies in the US.
TikTok was already a force in ecommerce. Before the launch of TikTok Shop in the US, UK, and several Asian markets, the company was already profiting from an ecommerce revenue stream thanks to referral links from merchants on their TikTok for Business accounts.
While Beauty & Personal Care is not the top-selling ecommerce category overall, this segment has been one of the first to embrace the advent of social commerce and live commerce. Influencers and celebrities showing off products on social media hold great appeal to young consumers, meaning that Beauty & Personal Care products feel right at home in the TikTok Shop. Indeed, preliminary data shows that a staggering 85% of TikTok Shop sales are in the Beauty & Personal Care category.
This report explores how TikTok became an ecommerce force, its role in the social commerce landscape, and which brands are set to profit from this new shopping channel. Statista and Similarweb combine key figures with raw traffic data to give you all the insights you need to get started on TikTok for Business.
The launch of TikTok Shop US is the latest chapter in a long line of ecommerce efforts by the social media sensation. Three years ago, TikTok first dipped its toes into the ecommerce waters via a partnership with Shopify, massively expanding the number of merchants on the platform. This maneuver was followed by the first TikTok Shop launches in Asia and the UK.
The typical TikTok user is not as young as is often assumed
The largest age demographic on TikTok is 35-44 (32%). Only 51% of TikTok users on Android are under 35 years old, and under one quarter are below 25 years old. These are lower figures than under 35 year-olds on Snapchat (68%) and Instagram (57%).
TikTok users engage strongly with the beauty category
Based on a representative sample of 21,225 US consumers that used the TikTok app during July-September 2023, Amazon gets the highest share of visits (54%) from TikTok users, followed by other marketplaces.
However, it is still interesting to highlight that TikTok users over-indexed in Pharma and Beauty retailer visits against the general population: Target in total monthly traffic typically ranks higher than CVS, and Macy’s higher than Walgreens.
If the strong correlation showed here between TikTok usage and visits to beauty sites, data from Statista shows TikTok users are also more likely than any other social media platform users to buy beauty products. About 89% of TikTok users were reported buying a beauty product from the platform in 2022, while this figure dropped to only two-thirds for Instagram users.
What players are dominating the US Skincare & Cosmetics industries?
Thrive Cosmetics might be the most popular D2C Beauty site in traffic, but not in terms of brand awareness and not on Tiktok either: Elf Cosmetics, Colourpop, Curology, and Mac Cosmetics are searched much more frequently despite ranking lower in monthly visits.
Top Beauty DTC Brands in Monthly Visits, Ranked by Branded Search Volume
US, Apr-Sep 2023, Similarweb Research Intelligence
TikTok and Amazon are closely interconnected, with the marketplace grabbing over 75% share of TikTok-famous skincare brand purchases and about 52% of makeup brands. Therefore, brands, including the more premium ones, should implement a solid strategy to stand out in the Amazon jungle.
Top Beauty Retailers in Share of Unique Purchases for TikTok-Famous Brands
US, Jan 1 – Sep 30, 2023, Similarweb Retail Analytics
What players are dominating the UK Skincare & Cosmetics industries?
The UK market is more closely aligned with TikTok on the biggest DTC brands in traffic: Charlotte Tilbury is easily the most popular D2C brand site, garnering 56% more views than its leading competitor, Beauty Pie. The Ordinary is the biggest brand in search volume.
Top Beauty D2C Brands in Monthly Traffic to Their Site
UK, Apr 1 – Sep 30, 2023, Similarweb Research Intelligence
Amazon.co.uk is the top shopping destination for TikTok-famous beauty brand purchases, especially for skincare, which owns an 84% share in unique purchases. Makeup purchases have a more significant split between retailers, with Sephora.co.uk grabbing a 16% share, followed by the pharmacy Boots.
Top Beauty Retailer in Share of Unique Purchases for TikTok-Famous Brands*
UK, Jan 1 – Sep 30, 2023, Similarweb Retail Analytics
*For 92 brands and 13 retailers
A pitfall: the “dupes” trend
TikTok is an excellent asset for beauty brands, particularly for new ones, as it provides them with the opportunity to shine and grow quickly through paid partnerships and organic customer advocacy.
However, it can also be a trap for established brands. As highlighted in our full report, pricier brands may shine on TikTok, but these views may not translate into sales, enabling consumers to search for “dupes” of these products or cheap knockoffs. With the rising inflation of the last two years, consumers across the globe are open to hacks and want to compromise on the price rather than on quality.
Premium brands with excellent brand awareness, such as Charlotte Tilbury or Drunk Elephant, are very exposed to this phenomenon, appearing in the top searches worldwide for dupes.
Read the full Similarweb + Statista report, TikTok: Reshaping the Face of the Beauty Industry, for much more detail.
The Similarweb Insights & Communications team is available to pull additional or updated data on request for the news media (journalists are invited to write to press@similarweb.com). When citing our data, please reference Similarweb as the source and link back to the most relevant blog post or similarweb.com/blog/insights/.
Contact: For more information, please write to press@similarweb.com.
Report By: Inès Durand, Senior Insights Manager
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