• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, May 5, 2009

Google and research firm Compete have teamed up to debunk the long-held belief that the Web doesn't provide important resources for shoppers of beauty supplies. In a study released Tuesday during a Webinar, key findings confirm that consumers rely on search engines to find beauty products from consumer product goods (CPG) manufacturers.

The findings also suggest those who purchase beauty products spend time searching online both by branded and non-branded keywords. Those who buy online use the Web to find information and resources throughout the purchase process. And retail and brand Web sites are a more important resource to shoppers of beauty products than beauty magazines.

Presented by Jenny Liu, industry marketing manager, CPG, Google, and Matt Pace, managing director, retail and consumer products, Compete, the study aims to understand how the Web and online branded sites influence consumers to make beauty product purchases.

"Those who are searchers versus non-searchers are described as beauty junkies," Liu said. "They spend more money, and are more likely to try new beauty products, and more willing to engage."

Competition to attract the attention of beauty shoppers online is fierce. "People are searching for Clinique, for example, but three-quarters of search referrals end up going to rivals or sites other than Clinique," Pace said, suggesting that marketers really need a way to stand out in the crowd.

About 67% of those who shop for beauty products online use search, and 58% use search to find where to purchase a product. Beauty searchers are more valuable to marketers, according to the findings.

Online purchasers show little preference between branded and non-branded keyword searches. The share of conversions by searchers searching by branded keyword was 39%; both, 28%; and non-branded, 30%. Interestingly, the more often a shopper clicks on paid beauty search ads the more often she buys, according to the study.

"Marketers that only focus on their own brand and targeted keywords are missing out on the volume occurring in the non-branded space," Pace said.

The share of beauty searchers who clicked on paid search results between May and Oct. 2008 was 41% for 1 purchase; 44% for 2 purchases; 48% for 3 purchases; 47% for 4 purchases; and 58% for 5 or more purchases.

Compared with beauty shoppers who don't use search, online searchers are younger and more affluent; 64% are more likely to make an online purchase; and 70% are more likely to try new products. In fact, those who search on the Web are four times more likely to spend more than $50 monthly on beauty products, and 29% use six or more beauty brands vs. 11% of non-beauty searchers.

Beauty searchers are 25% more likely to use social networks, and return 60% more often. And 25% of searchers state that their beauty purchases are influenced by beauty magazines, versus 10% for non-beauty searchers. Consumers who shop for beauty products online are nearly twice as likely to tell friends about the products they use.

"CPG companies are exploring the idea of search and social media, but nothing has really been set in stone," Liu said. "They are typically stuck in the world of magazines and television, but with the pressure to show a return on investments, they are looking for the answers online."