Shoppers Subscribe to Retailers’ Membership Programs for Beauty Deals

As retailers look to win subscribers over to their paid membership programs to bring in revenue and drive loyalty, PYMNTS Intelligence indicates that, if Walmart+ Week was any indication, beauty deals can go a long way toward driving adoption.

By the Numbers

The “Walmart+ Week 2024” PYMNTS Intelligence report draws from a survey of more than 7,700 United States consumers in June, looking at consumer trends regarding subscriptions and purchases during Walmart+ Week, which ran from June 17 to 23.

The study found that, among the roughly 1 in 3 Walmart+ subscribers who joined the program specifically for access to the sale event, three-quarters of deals event participants bought health and beauty products. This share was greater than said the same of any other kind of purchase.

Seventy-one percent of those who subscribed for the deals event bought groceries, making it the second-most sought out category for these customers, and 58% purchased clothing and accessories.

Meanwhile, only 56% of deal event participants who subscribed to the program for other reasons bought health and beauty products, a notably lower share than the 63% of these consumers who bought groceries.

The Data in Context

As consumers feel ongoing budgetary pressures, many are looking for more affordable ways to get the nice-to-haves they are not willing to forego such as cosmetics. PYMNTS Intelligence data show that 70% of consumers buy nice-to-have retail products at least sometimes, and health and beauty products are the second-most common such splurge.

In order to manage these purchases, shoppers are looking for lower-cost ways to get products they may have once bought at full price or bought from premium brands.

“The majority” of people, Alex Irvin, co-founder of eCosmetics, told PYMNTS in an interview, choose lower-priced brands rather than cutting a given makeup product out of their routine entirely.

“It’s called the lipstick effect, where people just simply are not going to stop buying lipstick, but what they do, what we’ve seen, is that maybe they’re not going to buy the $30. Maybe they’re going to buy the $15,” Irvin said.