Myer and Priceline Pharmacy dominate cosmetics spend

Each year Australian women spend hundreds of millions of dollars on cosmetics with Myer and Priceline Pharmacy accounting for three out of every ten dollars spent.

Myer and Priceline Pharmacy carry a wide range of cosmetic brands and offer both online and bricks and mortar purchasing. In contrast to these market leading retailers, Avon and Nutrimetics offer just one brand and retail channel combined. Both have a party plan representative network and online presence accounting for a combined 9% of dollars, the same share as David Jones. StrawberryNET and eBay combined make up 5% of dollars putting these online-only retailers in the same league as many traditional retail stores.

Share of women’s last four week cosmetics expenditure by retailer

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), August 2013 –September 2014 (n=1,110). Base: Australian women 14+ who bought cosmetics in the last 4 weeks.

Geoffrey Smith, General Manager – Consumer Products, Roy Morgan Research, says:

“The retail market for cosmetics is very competitive with traditional channels under pressure from both domestic and international online retailers. Both Priceline Pharmacy and Myer have risen to the challenges to grow a commanding share of women’s cosmetics expenditure over many years.

“With the launch of Sephora on December 5 the market will have a new, international retailer dedicated to women’s beauty. All cosmetics retailers need to understand their customers in terms of satisfaction and loyalty or risk losing them to the growing number of competitors.”