More than 80% of the surveyed consumers find beauty products online highlighting the impact of social media on beauty purchases in India. In fact, Meta’s Facebook and Instagram lead searches for beauty products, as reported by nine out of 10 consumers surveyed by consumer research platform GWI.
Instagram Reels play a vital role in purchasing decisions with 47% consumers revealing that they discovered beauty products through this feature. Notably, one in three surveyed beauty consumers made purchases through Instagram Reels, according to the Meta GWI Beauty Report 2023, commissioned by Meta. Data for fashion purchases was also published by Meta.
More than 2,000 consumers aged 6-64 participated in the survey across 74 cities in June. On Monday, Meta published the two separate reports mapping consumer behavior for beauty and fashion categories.
Covid, in general, has encouraged more consumers to buy goods online, but for beauty and personal care categories, specifically, the wide reach of online markets and the emergence of newer brands has fueled demand for such products.
There has been a significant shift in consumer preferences post-pandemic, with 68% of beauty shoppers now preferring to shop online – a remarkable 15% increase from pre-covid levels. In particular, 80% discover beauty brands on social media, with 92% finding them on Meta platforms, including 47% on Instagram Reels, the report revealed. In fact, nearly a third of survey respondents said they shopped for beauty products online every week.
“Both the beauty and fashion verticals are growing rapidly on Meta, with an increasing number of advertisers using Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp to engage with customers. Social media has transformed the shopping experience and journey for these industries, creating an urgent need for brands and retailers to interact with consumers in a different way, especially during the ongoing festive and upcoming wedding season,” Meghna Apparao, Meta’s director of e-commerce and retail in India. Along with Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, Meta dominates the way consumers shop or share information. In September, an estimated 3.14 billion people used at least one Meta app every day.
Social media platforms, with their bite-sized content, have impacted the retail landscape worldwide as they help consumers make decisions before purchasing a product – whether online or offline. Influencers who are paid to try new products and brands significantly change purchasing decisions for millions of consumers who spend hours browsing Meta’s various social media programs.
“Consumer interest in content created by influencers has grown dramatically. Despite the increase in content and creators globally, Indian consumers rely on Indian creators for authentic information and reviews. The data showed that 7 out of 10 beauty viewers and 2 out of 3 fashion content viewers watch Indian influencers, which has a big impact on their purchasing decisions,” according to the study’s findings.
The study showed that a lack of reviews is just as bad as negative ones, which underlines the importance of influencers.
Meanwhile, when it comes to fashion consumers, 76% said they discover fashion brands on social media, with a significant 97% discovering them through Meta platforms, of which 52% credit it to Instagram Reels. Notably, 39% bought after finding them on Reels.
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Updated: 20 Nov 2023, 06:05 IST