Key Takeaways:
Cyber Week 2025 unfolded against a backdrop of economic whiplash: Americans are spending aggressively despite persistent anxiety about savings, credit card debt, and inflation that never quite cooled. The early months of the Trump administration amplified the volatility, with markets swinging on regulatory announcements, tariffs, consumer confidence pulling in opposite directions, and retailers bracing for shifts in tax and trade policies.
Yet, shoppers showed up in force. Over the five-day stretch from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, consumers spent $44.2 billion online (+7.1% year over year (YoY), part of the nearly 203 million people who hit stores and websites during the long weekend, according to the National Retail Federation.
Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday
According to Adobe Analytics, Black Friday (+9.1% YoY) outpaced Cyber Monday (+7.1% YoY) growth for the second consecutive year, signaling a structural shift in holiday shopping behavior as retailers push deeper, earlier discounts. However, Cyber Monday still remains the most powerful day of the shopping season, as US consumers spent $14.25 billion online. At the peak hours of 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Cyber Monday, shoppers poured in $16 million per minute, powered by promotions and the fast-rising adoption of AI-powered shopping tools.
Adobe now predicts that the 2025 holiday (Nov. 1-Dec. 31) will reach $253.4 billion in online sales, up 5.3% YoY.
Vivek Pandya, Lead Analyst, Adobe Digital Insights, explained that US retailers leaned heavily on discounts to drive online demand. These competitive deals pushed consumers to shop earlier. “Shoppers have also become increasingly savvy in finding the best deals and locating the right products, embracing generative AI-powered chat services and browser tools for the second season in a row."
NeilsonIQ’s Cyber 5 Data
NeilsonIQ’s Cyber 5 report revealed deeper structural beauty shifts, with the category a top four in sales. Amazon accounted for 41.6% of online beauty sales.
Notably, haircare became more prevalent, gaining traction ahead of skincare, a reversal of typical holiday patterns.
Beauty sales distribution:
Additionally, shoppers began buying earlier than previous years over Cyber Weekend:
NeilsonIQ’s data shows a very clear demographic profile:
Thirteen percent of beauty sales came from shoppers earning $75K-$100K, with meaningful penetration up to $150K.
The Skincare and Fragrance Pattern
Data from Pattern reflected that treatment skincare and gifting fragrances drove the largest sales spikes, signaling strong demand for results-oriented beauty and high-emotion holiday purchases.
Key product categories by sales spikes:
Branded search was dominated by prestige and viral beauty brands; top keywords included:
Amazon Beauty Surges
Beauty was one of Amazon’s strongest outperformers this Cyber Week. According to Navigo Marketing’s Amazon Black Friday & Cyber Monday Review, beauty brands on Amazon had dramatic gains, driven by a strong Sunday to Monday finish. Beauty’s momentum reflects e-commerce trends of high discounts, mobile-first shopping, and algorithmic discovery, with Amazon uniquely amplifying these shifts.
The top movers on Amazon by YoY sales increase were:
Brands declining on Amazon were:
Medicube, Sol de Janeiro, Shark Beauty, TYMO, and Laura Geller New York held the largest share of Amazon beauty sales, with the top 10 brands capturing 53% of category revenue, reflecting increasing concentration among leaders even as ad activity decreased 9.8% YoY. Navigo’s report shows top SKUs with discounts reaching up to 52%, contributing to substantial sales spikes.
“As brands continue to leverage off-Amazon traffic they drive huge incremental revenue with brands like Medicube and Sol de Janeiro generating massive sales on very little on platform spend when comparing share,” said Jacob St. John founder of Navigo Marketing. “Concentration of sales and ads are splitting further apart with top brands taking just over 50% of sales while top sponsored brands account for only 12%.”
This reflects creator-led off Amazon traffic increasingly outperforming paid media. NeilsonIQ data confirms this concentration as Amazon captured 41.6% of all beauty e-commerce share during Cyber 5.
Front Row’s Forecast
Gabby Maksian, Senior Director, Global Marketing & Communications, told BeautyMatter that Front Row marked one of the strongest surges its portfolio has ever seen across Beauty, Health, and Wellness on Amazon, with the demand far outpacing last year’s benchmarks. Beauty brands under Front Row management grew 50% YoY during the Turkey 12 window, and 67% YoY for brands that ran promotional activity.
Demand accelerated earlier and more intensely than in 2024:
Beauty and wellness sales surged throughout the entire period:
Deal timing was one of the biggest predictors of success:
Beauty drove outsized order growth across categories:
Market Defense: The “How” Behind Cyber Week on Amazon
Market Defense revealed a clear divide between brands that strategically navigated Cyber Week and those that struggled under pressure.
Performance highlights included:
Alongside the wins, Market Defense saw challenges:
Market Defense also noted that most brands ran a full T12 promotional calendar and simultaneous promotions across DTC, Ulta Beauty, Sephora, and Nordstrom. This created significant strain on execution and budget allocation.
Mobile Commerce as a Dominant Channel
Mobile commerce officially won the holiday season. On Cyber Monday alone:
Just five years ago, mobile shopping represented only 41.4% of Cyber Monday purchases, an inflection point that is reshaping how beauty brands design storefronts, ad creative, and conversion flows.
BNPL Brilliance
Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) usage also crossed a milestone.
For beauty in particular, premium and device categories fuel BNPL as an element of trial and gifting.
AI-Driven Holiday Shopping
In the age of rampant AI, the tool became one of the season’s most influential channels.
AI-assisted shopping through chat interfaces, search copilots, or browser tools, helped consumers compare ingredients, validate claims, and evaluate value more quickly.
Social Commerce Is Power
Social media’s share of retail revenue hit:
NeilsonIQ named 2025 as TikTok Shop’s breakout year:
TikTok’s holiday success was fueled by:
Charm.io data confirmed TikTok’s dominance. On TikTok Shop, beauty surpassed $109 million, more than 20% of its $500 million sales total during the event (+50% YoY).
The top brands by sale on TikTok shop according to Charm.io were:
This suggests a broader shift: Social platforms are no longer just upper-funnel. They are now direct conversion engines, particularly for beauty’s creator-driven ecosystem.
Navigo’s report echoes this trend: Top brands such as Medicube and Sol de Janeiro achieved massive sales on relatively low on-platform ad spend, suggesting off-Amazon channels and creator networks are driving disproportionate traffic and purchase intent.
Retail and Rampant Red Light
While e-commerce surged, physical retail had its own storyline. A Retail Industry Leaders Association survey cited that nearly 25% of major retailers have 1,000+ stores currently without pennies, with most rounding down and cutting costs, a margin erosion that is sure to surface during Q1 reporting.
Meanwhile, more seasoned shoppers continued investing in high-ticket beauty tech, notably LED and microcurrent devices.
Redefining Cyber Week
Cyber Week 2025 wasn’t just bigger, it was structurally different. AI, mobile, social commerce, and high-impact discounting converged to reshape how consumers discover and buy beauty products even in turbulent times. Amazon beauty leaders demonstrated that cross-channel influence, not just on-platform spend, now determines holiday-season winners. With total holiday e-commerce projected to top $253 billion, the brands that align with these shifts will define the next era of digital beauty retail.
