Online channels are entrenched in price wars, while offline ones turn to the experience economy. Seize new opportunities for growth in instant retail and the gift market
Tina He, Senior Analyst, China Insights
Market Definitions
The beauty and personal care (BPC) market in China is mainly made up of haircare (eg shampoos, conditioners, hair treatments), facial skincare (eg facial cleaners, facial cream, masks), shower and bath products (eg soaps, shower gels, bath salts), oral care (eg toothpaste, teeth whitening products, mouthwash), men’s shaving products (eg shavers, shaving foam, aftershave), body skincare (eg body lotions, body oils), colour cosmetics (eg foundations, lipsticks, nail polish), hair beauty products (eg hair styling products, colourants), fine fragrances/body sprays, beauty tools (eg fake eyelashes, eyebrow razors, fake nails), beauty supplements (eg oral collagen, lightening pills), home fragrances and scents, feminine care (eg sanitary towels, tampons, hair removal products) and beauty-related home-use devices (eg facial cleansing devices).
The report covers all sales channels that can influence consumer purchasing decisions regarding BPC products, mainly including the following:
- Online channels (eg comprehensive ecommerce, short video platforms, social media, cross-border ecommerce, second-hand ecommerce, brand apps/WeChat mini programs, instant delivery platforms)
- Health and beauty chain retailers (eg Watsons (屈臣氏), Mannings (万宁))
- Beauty specialist retailers (eg Sephora, Gialen (娇兰佳人), HARMAY (话梅), THE COLORIST (调色师))
- Brand standalone stores/shopping mall counters (eg Kiehl’s, Lancôme)
- Supermarkets/hypermarkets (eg Hualian (华联), Yonghui (永辉))
- Premium supermarkets (eg Ole’, Blt, citysuper)
- Membership supermarkets (eg Sam’s Club, Costco)
- Convenience stores/grocery stores
- Lifestyle collection stores (eg Miniso (名创优品), MUJI)
- Beauty salons
- Domestic duty-free stores (eg airport duty-free stores, Hainan duty-free stores)
- Direct selling (eg Amway, Mary Kay)
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Executive summary
- Definitions
- What you need to know
- BPC market is under pressure in 2024; a slow growth rate is expected in the future
- Market factors
- Beauty retail giants face pressure; those expanding categories and strengthening marketing will prevail
- Retailers expand into the lower tier cities and rebrand to appeal to the younger generation
- Consumer trends
- Keys to success
- What we think
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The market
- Market size and forecast
- The BPC market saw a downtrend in 2024; slow growth is expected in the future
- Market factors
- Total retail sales of cosmetics slumped in 2024; sluggish trend continues into early 2025
- Graph 1: retail sales of consumer goods – cosmetics, 2023-25
- Penetration rates across BPC categories have plateaued
- Graph 2: BPC product purchase rates, 2023-25
- Compared to 2024, online channels gained a stronger foothold…
- Graph 3: offline purchase rate of BPC products, 2024-25
- Graph 4: online purchase rate of BPC products, 2024-25
- … with higher online purchase rates for fragrances/body spray, hair care, colour cosmetics, and facial skincare than offline
- Graph 5: difference between online and offline purchase rates of BPC products, 2024-25
- Tmall early sales push in 2024 fails to sustain spending momentum
- Graph 6: value sales during promotional periods and year-round and YOY change rate (%), 2023-24
- Graph 7: monthly value sales as a proportion of the annual total, 2023-24
- Douyin continues to expand as it snatches market share from other channels
- Graph 8: YOY change (%) in total retail value sales of cosmetic products, industry total vs mainstream online channels, 2023-25
- Beauty retail stores are expanding to non-Tier 1 cities to seek growth opportunities
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Companies and brands
- Market share
- Retailers’ market share is a mixed picture in 2024; category expansion and brand marketing are key to success
- AFIONA enhances store appeal through category expansion and service productisation
- THE COLORIST precisely targets younger people/students, establishing a reputation among makeup novices
- Retailers fighting for a share in lower tier cities
- Brick and mortar retailers get a glow-up
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The consumer
- Price comparison between online channels has become a new normal among shoppers, and special sale platforms are leveraging this trend to grow
- Consumers tend to compare prices online; discount and special sales platforms buck the trend of stagnancy in the overall market…
- Graph 9: online channel penetration, 2023 vs 2025
- … while instant retail is on the rise, and cross-border ecommerce faces unprecedented uncertainty
- Audiences of major online platforms/channels diverge
- Graph 10: mainstream online channel penetration rate, by gender and age, 2025
- Consumers prefer to obtain information from online channels; Douyin stands out in content marketing
- Graph 11: where consumers get information from, 2025
- Discount/sales platforms provide a wide range of price bands, but supply chain quality control may be a challenge
- Breaking free from price wars, instant retail gains consumer approval
- Graph 12: penetration rate of instant delivery platforms, by age of female consumers and city tier, 2025
- Physical retail is stabilising, while beauty retailers and grocery/convenience stores win the favour of Tier 2 cities and younger consumers, respectively
- Under the impact of online channels, offline channels barely managed to secure their share, while beauty specialist retailers and grocery/convenience stores made some breakthroughs
- Graph 13: offline channel penetration, 2023 vs 2025
- Health and beauty chain retailers are losing younger consumers, while grocery/convenience stores have become the youth’s new favourites
- Graph 14: grocery/convenience store penetration, by age, 2025
- Graph 15: penetration of health and beauty chain retailers, by age, 2025
- Beauty specialist retailers continue to gain popularity among women and in Tier 2 city markets
- Graph 16: beauty specialist retailer penetration, by city tier, 2025
- Supermarket channels are penetrating Tier 3 or lower cities, and private-label colour cosmetics show impressive performance
- Graph 17: penetration of regular supermarkets/hypermarkets, by city tier, 2023 vs 2025
- New shopping experience: try-ons at lifestyle collection stores
- The demand for BPC gift-giving occasions is prominent
- Partners are important recipients of gifts, and birthdays are universal occasions for gifting
- Graph 18: gift recipients and occasions, 2025
- Male partners are more likely to give BPC products to their female partners
- Graph 19: occasions for giving gifts to partners, by gender, 2025
- A personal care brand specialising in gift-giving occasions – Qingzhi
- Aside from the brand effect, gift packaging, customisation services and sets are the focal points of gifting
- Graph 20: gift considerations, 2025
- Value for money gifting choice – Kans skincare set
- Besides integrated ecommerce, offline counters and beauty specialist retailers are important channels for purchasing gifts
- Graph 21: channel selection for personal use and gifting, 2025
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Issues and insights
- Premiumisation is still possible amid the price wars by leveraging immediacy
- Big promotions are losing their appeal, but discount/sale platforms are unstoppable; the race to the lowest price is difficult to sustain
- Instant delivery serves multiple occasions
- Graph 22: online purchase rate of specific categories, by purchase channel of BPC products, 2025
- Grocery/convenience stores cultivate the new 15-minute city consumption
- Graph 23: offline purchase rate of specific categories, by purchase channel of BPC products, 2025
- Revitalise offline retail: leverage adjacent categories and explore new consumption scenarios in lower tier cities
- Generational differentiation in beauty channels widens; health categories are promising game-changers for traditional health and beauty chain stores
- Testing waters in non-Tier 1 cities, beauty collection stores are reconstructing their value offline
- Enhance gift attributes and explore the needs in gift-giving scenarios
- The facial sets market is on the rise, with international brands infiltrating the local gifting scenarios
- Premium fragrance brands enhance the gift attributes through packaging design
- Mainstream online platforms set up gift portals to stimulate demand for gifts
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Appendix – market size and forecast, research methodology and abbreviations
- Market size and forecast
- Methodology
- Abbreviations
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