Beauty brands have cracked the code for social commerce. What can wider ecommerce markets learn from their successes? Beauty brands are having a moment on social media, with online beauty sales growing at roughly triple the rate of the wider retail sector, and haircare and skincare emerging as some of the sector’s strongest-performing categories.

Key Takeaways: 

The beauty industry is outperforming other major categories online

The social commerce report examines top social commerce platforms, such as TikTok, Instagram and Vinted. It discusses the trend of e-commerce on social media and shows how to participate. Every number in this report is derived from real purchase data from card issuers and payment processors cross-validated with retailer data, traffic signals, and public market data.

What’s inside:

Discusses social commerce statistics, its revenues and leading platforms

PYMNTS Intelligence and Visa Acceptance Solutions surveyed 5,241 consumers, 1,185 merchants and 150 acquirers across the U.S., Brazil and the UAE. The data shows AI agents are already changing how people shop, but trust at checkout remains the real hurdle.

Inside the July Index

Consumers divide trust between AI discovery, AI recommendations and AI-led payments.

Merchants are deciding which agentic commerce use cases deserve investment now and which still carry too much risk.

For both brands and retailers, beauty’s competitive landscape is in flux: Players with novel products, as well as new entrants from adjacent categories, are gaining ground against incumbents. And as product discovery and purchase migrate toward creators, social platforms, and digital marketplaces, legacy beauty channels such as department stores and specialty retail chains must find new ways to attract and retain shoppers.

Beauty shoppers have never been more connected, informed, or selective. As wellness, self-care, and digital commerce continue to reshape the industry, beauty brands face a new challenge: creating content that not only inspires consumers but also converts across increasingly complex shopping journeys. From AI-powered product recommendations and social commerce to evolving consumer expectations around transparency and personalization, the rules of beauty engagement are changing rapidly.

Attentive, the omnichannel marketing platform redefining how brands and people connect, released new Consumer Pulse research revealing that holiday shopping continues to kick off well before Black Friday, with some consumers starting as early as the summer months. The survey found that 83% of consumers begin planning holiday purchases before Black Friday, while 71% plan to start shopping before the holiday shopping event, up 12 percentage points from last year. As consumers spread purchases across a longer shopping season, brands have more opportunities to influence purchase decisions by engaging customers with timely, personalized experiences throughout the journey.

What if your next competitive challenge isn’t another retailer, but an AI assistant influencing what your customers discover, compare and buy? Customer journeys are changing. Consumers are increasingly turning to AI-powered assistants to find information, explore products and support purchasing decisions. Instead of navigating multiple websites themselves, they can ask an AI assistant to help them identify the right product, compare options and, increasingly, complete a transaction.

Discover how AI, science-backed skincare, personalization, and shifting consumer expectations are transforming beauty purchasing across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The beauty industry in the DACH region is entering a new era. As consumers become more informed, digitally connected, and results-driven, traditional approaches to beauty marketing and product discovery are losing ground to personalized, science-backed experiences.