How Should Brands Market in China's Cosmetics Market?

Macroeconomic Environment of China's Color Cosmetics Consumer Market

The macro environment of China's color cosmetics consumer market is undergoing profound changes. Consumers' psychological needs are gradually shifting from functional to emotional fulfillment, and the pursuit of diversification and personalization is driving market segmentation and restructuring. At the same time, the coexistence of international economic fluctuations and regionalization trends has also led to complex and dynamic changes in China's color cosmetics industry.

On the one hand , due to cautious spending, consumers pursue the ultimate cost-effectiveness; on the other hand, due to relatively ample economic resources, consumers prefer high-quality products. Behind this stratification of consumption structure lies a stratification of lifestyles, with both complacency and intense competition coexisting. This manifests in consumption behavior as a trend towards these two different attitudes, which will drive the market to continue its diversified and innovative development.

Trends in China's Color Cosmetics Industry

The beauty and personal care industry has seen high growth in many regions around the world, with the Asia-Pacific region growing by 12%, on par with the global average.

Consumers are increasingly willing to spend on beauty. Compared to other fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), consumers in the Asia-Pacific region are less willing to reduce their spending on beauty. Survey data shows that 68% of Chinese consumers said they would increase their spending on makeup in the coming year , while only 4% said they might reduce their spending on makeup.

China's macro cosmetics market continued its steady recovery in 2024. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that total retail sales of cosmetics increased by 3% year-on-year in the first 10 months of 2024, continuing the positive recovery trend of the previous year. Furthermore, compared with the scale and trends of previous years, the cosmetics market still has room for expansion.

Development of China's Color Cosmetics Industry

Creating a refined, long-lasting, and smudge-proof basic makeup look remains the core and fundamental pursuit of makeup consumers. With the diversification of consumer demands, the facial makeup market continues to expand, leading industry growth. Omnichannel makeup retail sales increased by 7% year-on-year from January to November 2024.

New products and consumption upgrades are important engines driving the growth of the color cosmetics market. Research data shows that consumers are more easily influenced by trending topics to buy popular products, and more consumers are choosing higher-priced color cosmetics products due to consumption upgrades.

New products that generate buzz are more likely to stimulate consumers' desire to buy. Among the new products that quickly become popular online, 41% of consumers surveyed were willing to try and buy them .

Chinese Cosmetics Channels

The fragmentation of distribution channels is redefining how cosmetic brands connect with consumers. The new consumer logic of "content as channel" is gradually dominating the consumer decision-making process. From short video seeding to live-streaming e-commerce, how brands can leverage channels to expand their reach across all touchpoints and stimulate conversion has become a crucial issue, also bringing new market opportunities. Content e-commerce, through innovative content marketing that aggregates traffic and increases user engagement, creates opportunities for cosmetic brands to break through and further expand their market share.

International and domestic cosmetics brands are unanimously targeting content e-commerce to tap into new growth potential. With industry growth slowing, finding new growth drivers is a consensus among brands. Both domestic and international brands recognize the enormous potential of content e-commerce and are actively exploring new growth avenues in this field.

Douyin has become an important channel for cosmetic brands to explore omnichannel growth.

Douyin (TikTok) seamlessly integrates content creation and sales channels, catering to consumers' needs across the entire shopping journey, from browsing and searching to purchasing and sharing. This helps brands convert buzz into tangible results, empowering business innovation through a synergistic effect of brand building and sales performance. Furthermore, consumers who discover and discover makeup products on Douyin are more likely to purchase them through other channels, generating spillover value that boosts makeup brands' omnichannel business conversion.

With short videos and live streaming at its core, Douyin brings together a diverse range of makeup content, from fashion bloggers' daily sharing to brands' creative marketing, from European and American trendy makeup to Japanese and Korean everyday makeup. Douyin enables makeup trends to be delivered to consumers at a faster pace, and further shapes and promotes fashion trends through its platform ecosystem, creating a dynamic situation where supply and demand mutually reinforce each other.