In the past two years, the grand prize winner of @cosme’s Best Cosmetics Awards had been time tested favourites.
The 2022 awards saw @cosme members bestow the top prize onto KATE Lip Monster, which was launched in 2021. In 2023, the honour went to Orbis Essence in Hair Milk, 12 years after its first launch.
For 2024, Attenir Skin Clear Cleansing Oil bagged the topped the rankings after its formula was updated for the first time since its launch four years ago.
The product is among the five New Cosmetics Award winners for the first half of 2024, suggesting that the trend was shifting.
According to @cosme, this was the greatest number of new cosmetics the rankings have ever recorded.
Furthermore, two products South Korean beauty brands, Rom&nd and Numbuzin broke into the top 10 list.
“This the first time that two Korean cosmetics products have been ranked in the top 10 overall,” said the @cosme report.
“Looking at the results overall, new cosmetics and Korean cosmetics accounted for 70% of the top 10 products overall, showing that this has been a year in which we can get a glimpse of people’s proactiveness in changing their behaviour and trying new things.”
In with the new
The beauty retailer attributed this change to the increased number of pop-up shops brands such as Numbuzin and Cosme Decorte have held over the past year.
The appearance of these limited time events encouraged consumers to return to stores.
@cosme review data reported that the term “pop-up” was mentioned twice as much in its reviews compared to the same period last year, with customers frequently citing impulse purchases at these events.
The excitement of discovering and trying out new products, coupled with the ability to make informed choices through direct explanations from the brand, helped to encourage purchases.
The retailer believes pop-ups will continue to play a key role in offline retail: “Pop-up events will play an important role in bringing about unexpected, serendipitous encounters and purchasing opportunities.”
Investments in the right places
This is especially so given that price hikes are expected to weigh heavily on consumers purchase decisions this year.
In an @cosme survey, more than half (64.5%) of respondents reported that they have “started to think more about what items to spend money on,” reflecting growing consumer caution in spending as prolonged price hikes persist.
Rising prices and weaken yen means consumers will continue seek out products in the mid-price range, @cosme observed.
At the same time, consumers will still be willing to pay top dollar for certain products, especially base makeup.
@cosme data highlighted that beauty consumers prioritised high-quality base makeup products.
“In the user survey, 35.3% of respondents stated they had “started spending money on base makeup,” indicating that consumers, becoming more selective due to rising prices, are prioritising base makeup as a key investment.”
