Amazon’s second Prime event of the year, Prime Best Deals Days, took place October 10 and 11 and marked the second year in a row Amazon has held the October event as a kickoff to Q4 sales. This year’s Prime Big Deal Days (PBDD) sales grew 16% YoY vs. last year’s October Prime Early Access Sale (PEAS), with advertisers increasing spend 30% YoY. These fall Prime events have still not reached the size of July Prime Day, as July PD 2023 sales beat PBDD sales by 52%. Who shopped Prime Big Deal Days? The typical observed Prime Day shopper was a high-income, suburban female aged 35 to 44. 87% were Prime members, and many had been members for a significant period—73% since 2019 or earlier, and 84% for at least a year.
How did beauty fare on Amazon during Prime Big Deal Days? The Health & Beauty category saw the largest increase in shoppers of any other category on Amazon with a seven-point increase since 2022. 42% of shoppers reported purchasing products in the Health & Beauty category. Five of the top 10 fastest-growing subcategories during the October 2023 Prime event were in Health & Beauty, led by skincare, haircare, and makeup.
Skincare ruled the Prime event kingdom; five of the top-selling 10 brands were skincare powerhouses led by CeraVe, COSRX, and La Roche-Posay. Pimple patch searches drove the most Prime beauty traffic, while TikTok favorite COSRX Snail Mucin came out on top as the #1 selling product during the October Prime event. TikTok drove much of this momentum, with skincare videos garnering over 17 billion views.
Tools drove sales in the haircare category this Prime Event. Beauty consumers took advantage of discounts and cashed in coupons to scoop up hair dryers, flat irons, and heatless curler sets to turn their favorite tutorial into a real-life look. Revlon One-Step Volumizer Hot Air Brush took the #1 haircare spot; Kitsch Satin Heatless Curling Set came in at #7. TikTok posts using the hashtag #haircare had over 26 billion views on TikTok; #heatlesscurls alone had almost 7 billion.
Essence Lash Princess Mascara was Amazon’s #1 selling makeup item this Prime Event, followed by Peripera Ink Velvet Lip Tint. Consumer searches for Lip Oil & Liquid Blush on Amazon have been increasing in 2023, aligning with the rapid rise of Selena Gomez' brand Rare Beauty, a Sephora exclusive brand not yet intentionally selling on Amazon, but clearly setting some major trends. This has left the door open for other brands to capitalize on this trend and fill the Amazon white space.
Fragrance was the most dynamic category in beauty this Prime event, led by Sol de Janeiro Hair & Body Fragrance Mist. Included in the top sellers were celebrity fragrances like Billie Eilish, legendary names like Nautica for Men, and international cult hits like Lattafa Yara EDP for Women. More prestige fragrance brands are intentionally entering Amazon, as well as international and niche fragrance houses (Victoria's Secret recently launched an Amazon store). Amazon's broad reach means that these formerly cult favorites will become available to a global audience, even in areas where these products might not be traditionally accessible, significantly increasing the visibility of these brands. For example, with over 400 million TikTok views, #ArabicPerfume(s) is having a viral moment, and international brands are benefiting from searches for the legendary spicy and smoky inspiration.
For deeper beauty insights from the Amazon Prime event, including details on year-to-date trends, the full list of top-selling brands, products, and the keyword searches, and TikTok trends that drove sales, download Market Defense’s Prime Big Deal Days Beauty Category Insights Report here.
