The strength of Chinese consumer spending was seen in June as prestige beauty e-commerce sales soared 87 percent in China for the month to $1.3 billion, compared to the same time period last year, according to The NPD Group. The strong growth is credited primarily to China’s 618 Shopping Festival, which ran for three weeks in June and saw the participation of more than 100,000 brands selling more than 10 million discounted items, more than double the number of brands that participated in last year’s event. All beauty super-categories recorded growth compared to last year, with skin care sales increasing by 98 percent to $489 million, makeup sales increasing 58 percent to $102 million, fragrances sales increasing 61 percent to $21 million, and hair care sales increasing 126 percent to $16 million.

Makeup’s growth was lower compared to other super-categories, as a result of the pandemic, but did start to increase as people began returning to work in China. Notably, the use of face masks did cause a shift from lip makeup (12 percent growth compared to June 2019) to eye makeup (159 percent growth compared to June 2019).

“The e-commerce channel is likely to keep the fast growth rate in the coming months for beauty products,” said Stanley Kee, Managing Director, APAC, The NPD Group. “In fact, a recent China consumer sentiment study conducted by the NPD Group showed that 26 percent of Chinese consumers claimed they only purchase beauty products online. With another online festival, Double 11, scheduled for November, it is likely that sales from this event will help China experience record sales for the year.”