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Beauty shoppers head to the checkout

 

trolley

For more than one quarter of Australian women who bought make up in the last six months, the supermarket is where they did it, according to the latest study by Roy Morgan Research.

In the year to June 2014, 25.6 per cent of women bought their make up from a supermarket in any given six month period, while one in every five purchased their beauty products from a chemist.

“Although it might at first glance seem odd, supermarkets have been the leading channel for purchasing cosmetics for more than a decade,” Geoffrey Smith, GM – consumer products, Roy Morgan Research, said.

“For women with busy lifestyles and multiple commitments, buying their make-up at the same place as their groceries cuts out the need for a separate visit to another shop and saves them precious time.

Both figures are up on the same time in 2010, supermarkets, especially, have made strong inroads over the last four years, up from 20.9 per cent.

Incidence of make up shopping at discount stores such as Target, Big W, and Kmart has declined in this time, from 14.1 per cent to 12 per cent, as has the percentage of women buying their cosmetics at Priceline stores in an average six months, from 15.4 per cent to 13.6 per cent

“Accounting for the vast majority of women who buy their cosmetics at the supermarket, Woolworths and Coles stock a wide range of stores’ own and big name brands.

“Both chains stock Covergirl and Rimmel cosmetics as well as Australia’s top-selling make-up brand, Maybelline. Coles also offers a selection from upcoming Aussie brand Nude by Nature, while Woollies has cult brand ModelCo.”

The proportion of women who buy their make up at Myer is the highest it has been since May 2011.  David Jones, meanwhile, remains static around the five per cent mark.

“Myer is attracting a higher proportion of make-up shoppers than it has for some time; in fact, Myer CEO Bernie Brookes recently identified cosmetics as one of the department store’s strongest categories.

“Bearing in mind that value for money is the factor most women consider important when buying make up, retailers that offer cosmetics at a reasonable price have the advantage in this crowded and competitive market.”

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