Sales performances during the pandemic
A strong segment of the e-commerce business is the Drive and home delivery service for which beauty products made up 14 percent of purchases in 2018. E.Leclerc Drive and Auchan Drive were the most prominent applications that same year, and it is with no surprise that the most popular online store in the personal care segment was auchan.fr. However, as online sales represent a strong share of overall sales, offline sales were largely dominated by hypermarket and supermarket purchases two years later. In fact, even after the lockdown was announced in France on March 16, 2020, most people still purchased their personal care products through the same channels, since supermarkets in France, counting as essential, already offer a large variety of beauty and cosmetic products. However, online sales took a significant leap forward: the share of shoppers who bought beauty items online more often or for the first time since confinement and prefer this shopping method over in-store has increased by eight percent from May 28 to July 28, 2020.Website referrals and beauty influencer marketing
Sephora.fr asserted its general position as the market leader, acquiring the status of the beauty brand with the highest satisfaction score among French consumers. It was also the brand with the most visited website in January 2020 at 3.2 million visits.Online sales and visits to cosmetic sites are largely pushed by the growing beauty influencer market. Instagram was the social network generating the most engagement. Sephora is the most mentioned beauty brand on Instagram, which is due to its 557 beauty ambassadors. With the most popular publication formats being "selfies" or tutorials, the most followed influencers interested in fashion and beauty on Instagram were Enjoy Phoenix and Natoo.
