Self-Care Summer: How Shoppers Are Making Personal Care and Health & Wellness Purchases This Season

In the Northern Hemisphere, it’s that time of year when people begin wearing more sunscreen, spending more time outdoors, and engaging in more physical activities. MikMak recently looked at what this means for Grocery and Alcohol brands, but what can Personal Care and Health & Wellness brands expect? 

Here’s what MikMak found out.

Personal Care demand peaks in early to midsummer; Health & Wellness peaks later

Last year, Personal Care brands saw two distinct peaks in Purchase Intent Rates, which shows the likelihood a consumer will continue through to a retailer from shoppable media. The first of these peaks was May 27th, and the second was June 30th. With class letting out and pools opening, these dates reflect the time of year when outdoor activity increases sharply.

Health and Wellness demand was more scattered in 2022, with four notable peaks on July 3rd, July 26th, August 16th, and August 23rd.

If 2023 follows the same trends as last year Personal Care and Health & Wellness Brands can anticipate similar timing for demand spikes.

Moisturizing body butter is the top product for Personal Care right now; a teeth whitening kit is the top for Health & Wellness 

With the sun shining and UV rays hitting the skin at more intense rates, many people prioritize their skincare in the summertime compared to other times of the year. The MikMak Shopping Index found that the products driving the most Purchase Intent Clicks (or in-market traffic) leading into summer include body butter, body scrub, shave oil, orthopedic insoles, and shea butter. Skincare brands should especially consider these demands for their products as they design their creative and plan campaigns in the warmer months.

Meanwhile, Health & Wellness brands are seeing more variety in the types of products popular right now. The top products for Health & Wellness brands right now, according to the MikMak Shopping Index, include a teeth whitening kit, gummy multivitamins, condoms, mouthwash, and a melatonin supplement. 

As people prioritize their physical health and hydration, we may see continued traffic to Personal Care and Health & Wellness brands all summer long.

Follow eCommerce best practices for your Personal Care or Health & Wellness brand to see success in the sun this summer

With the popularity and need for Personal Care and Health & Wellness in the summertime, how will your brand stay at the top of shopping lists? Here are some tips from MikMak:

While your brand should take an omnichannel approach and find its shoppers at multiple social touchpoints, research from our Personal Care Guide found that Personal Care shoppers are most likely to click through to a retailer when viewing media on YouTube. Meanwhile, our Health & Wellness Guide found that those shopping for Health & Wellness products are most likely to click through to a retailer on Facebook.

In the summertime, and all year wrong, it is essential to create a seamless shopping experience for consumers. Partner with an eCommerce enablement software like MikMak and leverage inventory management so shoppers can see where your products are in stock and consider purchasing backup SKUs if unavailable. This will help you avoid losing sales to competitors.

An example of a brand that did this is Olly, which integrates MikMak Commerce Discover onto their brand website, allowing them to facilitate the sale of out-of-stock products through third-party retailers.

When shoppers come across an out-of-stock product, instead of an “add to cart” button, they see a “where to buy” button that loads MikMak Commerce Discover showing online and in-store purchase options based on the shopper’s geolocation.

This integration also allows Olly to capture first-party data on the shoppers interacting with out-of-stock products, providing Olly with valuable insights into the performance of enabling sales on out-of-stock items and the shopping preferences of their consumers.

In addition, knowing where your consumers are shopping can inform you of where your product will most likely be shopped for so you can stay in stock. For Personal Care, recent data from the MikMak Shopping Index found that Walmart is the top-preferred retailer. For Health & Wellness, Amazon wins first place. Ensure your brand is available at your shoppers’ preferred retailers.

3. Develop more nuanced insights for consumer relevance

Stay close to your data and track trends in how consumers are shopping for your products. Check your performance against category (and subcategory!) benchmarks to see how you stack up against the competition. You can even A/B test creative and messaging to see if purchase intent increases. Find out more about how your brand can discover nuances, consumer behaviors, and create a seamless shopping experience for shoppers that keeps them buying your brand over its competitors. Schedule a demo with MikMak today.