Beauty Shoppers Reveal Their Packaging Attitudes

By Denise Herich, The Benchmarking Company

Forty-six percent of U.S. female beauty and personal care buyers admit that a product’s packaging is influential or very influential to their purchase decision; make that 50% for millennial and Gen Z buyers. Whether that package is primary or secondary, sustainable, refillable, made of plastic or glass, the vessel containing the product plays a vital role in attracting her attention enough to learn about its contents and to buy.

To understand the consumer viewpoint on packaging, The Benchmarking Company surveyed more than 3,500 U.S. beauty consumers in July 2023 about their attitudes and preferences toward packaging of all types. Here’s what we found.

Shopper Profile: Retailers & Products

To begin with, Superstores like Target and Walmart (71%) and Amazon.com (68%) remain the top places where U.S. females of all age groups purchase beauty and personal care products on a regular basis (T-1). Stores like Ulta/Ulta.com (56%), Sephora/Sephora.com (50%), drug stores (40%) and specific brand websites (34%) round out the most frequent retailers she buys from. The top products she’s buying include facial skin care (92%), shampoo/conditioner (91%), body skin care (83%), lip color (66%), fragrance (65%), sunscreen (63%) and eye shadow/color products (59%).

The Unboxing Experience Decoded

Millennial and Gen Z buyers are most likely to have products delivered (96% of them have done so, compared to 94% of all age groups), because they buy from Amazon.com (73%) and other online retailers more often than older age groups.

When these buyers receive their packages in the mail, 88% first open the external packaging to check for any product damage, then read the information on the front and back of the package (85%), recycle the packaging material if possible (71%), and then discard the rest (34%).

Thirty percent of millennial and Gen Z beauty buyers enjoy filming their unboxing experience and then posting the video on social media, casting an important spotlight—that could go viral—on the package itself.

Mass vs. Luxury Packaging Expectations

Whether a beauty product is mass market or premium priced affects the consumer’s viewpoint on the product’s package aesthetic. Luxury products are expected to be more attractive, with a stronger "wow-factor."

What’s Expected and Important

While an attractive package is important, packaging that’s protective of the product inside and that displays easily readable product benefits are the most desirable attributes. Packaging that’s functional and easy to use, sturdy, leak-proof, easy to open, and minimalistic round out her top packaging must-haves.

Sustainably made packaging that’s biodegradable or compostable isn’t as high on her list as pure functionality; still, beauty buyers look for these types of packaging when considering the purchase of a product. Specifically, buyers seek out recyclable packaging (43%) and packaging that’s reusable (28%) and sustainably made (25%). Notably, 84% of all beauty buyers—and 88% of those buyers millennial age or younger—say they might be or would be more inclined to try a beauty brand’s product for the first time if they saw that its package was sustainably made. That said, 40% of all consumers just look for the product they intend to buy regardless of the actual packaging material.

A brand’s commitment to the environment, animals, sustainability, and other causes are important for transparency, and buyers want that commitment communicated on package as well.

Easily finding those certifications and seals on the package are important to her purchase decision, with the Leaping Bunny or cruelty-free symbols being at the top of her list. Certifications and seals of importance include...

>>>Read or download the full report here.