Israeli shoppers overwhelmingly opt to buy their cosmetics and personal care items in store, rather than online, according to a report published by Haaretz. Just 10 percent of total cosmetics and personal care sales are completed online, according to TASC.

A survey conducted by TheMarker revealed that although prices were considerably higher in store (up to 56 percent more expensive in Super-Pharm, Israel’s largest chain, compared to online), shoppers were still happy to browse the shelves in person.

Haaretz believes that the preference can be attributed to the relative infancy of the online beauty market with Super Pharm only launching its e-commerce platform last summer and its biggest competitor, New Pharm, only due to debut its online offer later this year.

“Online is still in diapers and hasn’t realized its potential because there is an obstacle the consumer needs to overcome: cosmetics is an area where consumers are always looking for something new and different. Also in cosmetics, for women, it’s important to try a product – to see a range of different make-up,” Ofer Levi, Vice President for Marketing and Trade at Super Pharm told Haaretz.