As beauty retail evolves, the real winners are brands blending digital speed with physical connection.
The future of beauty is click-and-mortar, not one-channel dominance
Beauty’s ecommerce surge is real but don’t bury the store just yet
Ecommerce beauty is booming. It’s leading all retail channels in beauty sales growth, clocking a 12% CAGR through 2028—blowing past travel retail (9%) and specialty retail (8%), according to eMarketer.
But here’s the twist: even with this digital rocket ship, 37% of beauty shoppers still prefer to buy in-store, more than any other product category, according to PYMNTS Intelligence.
So what gives? Simple. In beauty, the channel matters as much as the product.
The catch: Ecommerce has bigger carts, but stores have the traffic
Let’s get tactical:
- 📦 Online avg. order value (AOV): $131.66
- 🛍️ In-store AOV: $78.50
- 🧍♀️ Shoppers buying in-store: 2.7x more than online
So yes, ecommerce wins on spend per order. But brick-and-mortar dominates foot traffic, and for beauty in particular, the appeal of swatching, sampling, and impulse-buying IRL is still unmatched.
And ecommerce hasn’t yet nailed that experience—despite AR try-ons, influencer marketing, and virtual quizzes.
AI is changing the formulation game—but it’s still not replacing the counter
Upstream, platforms like Albert Invent are transforming how chemists develop products—cutting weeks off R&D cycles and letting companies like Nouryon move faster than ever with AI-assisted formulation engines.
Great for product velocity. Great for personalization.
But guess what AI can’t do? Replicate the moment someone smells, feels, or tries a new moisturizer in a glowing Sephora aisle with a helpful beauty associate hyping it up.
The chemistry of a great product may start with AI, but the customer chemistry? Still mostly in-store.
Operator POV: Don’t pick sides—optimize both
If you’re a beauty brand or retailer, don’t fall for the “stores are dead” hype. The smartest players are hedging both ways:
- Amazon is eating beauty ecommerce with double-digit YoY gains for brands like Estée Lauder and e.l.f. Beauty (whose $1B Rhode acquisition just put them in Kylie Jenner territory).
- TikTok Shop is now the #8 US beauty ecommerce retailer, driving viral hits faster than L’Oréal can file trademarks.
- But physical stores still convert, especially for Gen Z shopping for big-ticket items like appliances and home goods—and, yes, beauty.
So if you’re betting your future on DTC or Amazon alone, good luck. Better to build a channel mix that flexes with the customer.
Why it matters: Digital wins on scale, stores win on trust
Ecommerce gives you reach. Speed. Personalization. And a chance to ride the algorithmic wave of TikTok virality or Amazon search.
But stores offer something harder to copy: brand-building moments, loyalty driven by experience, and conversion from try-before-you-buy frictionless funnels.
The beauty brands that win in 2025 and beyond will:
✅ Use AI to build products faster
✅ Leverage social commerce for discovery
✅ Nail Amazon logistics to scale
✅ And still invest in in-store retail to close the loop
Bottom line: Beauty is going omnichannel, not online-only
Ecommerce is beauty’s biggest growth engine, no question.
But the best strategy isn’t a DTC-only sprint—it’s a blended marathon. From TikTok virality to Sephora samples, the winning brands show up everywhere customers are making decisions.
So before you gut your retail strategy or go all in on Shopify, ask yourself:
Would your customer rather click… or connect?
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