Sales of household consumables, including health & personal care, beauty, grocery and pets, have risen sharply over the course of the year to date, according to a report published by One Click Retail.

The research organ estimates first quarter sales of health & personal care products at US$1.9 billion, a 31 percent rise year-on-year, while sales of beauty products have increased 30 percent to reach US$900 million and sales of luxury beauty have soared a whopping 57 percent for a total of US$200 million.

“In 2017, we began to see a significant shift in the beauty market: growth moved away from mass market consumables in favor of higher-end beauty products. This remains true in 2018 – while the total beauty product group grew 30 percent during the first quarter, luxury grew by 57 percent, nearly double the rate,” explains Nathan Rigby, VP Sales and Marketing at One Click Retail.

Within the luxury beauty category, luxury skin care was up 25 percent to US$40 million, derma skin care saw growth of 84 percent to US$30 million and cosmetics put on 27 percent to reach US$20 million. The fastest growing categories, however, were professional salon and spa (up 93 percent year-on-year to US$50 million) and beauty appliances (rising 73 percent to US$30 million).

“In growth potential terms, one could say that luxury beauty is the biggest opportunity for brands on Amazon right now – but the reality is that there is opportunity across the board,” continues Rigby. “Amazon’s share of the consumables market is growing rapidly, outpacing bricks and mortar retailers and most ecommerce competitors by a wide margin.”