Promotions vs. Preferences: What Sephora’s November Event Tells Us About Beauty Brands in 2024

Promotions have significantly impacted the beauty market in 2024, with many shoppers increasingly pivoting their wallets to spend on discounted items. We took a closer look at Sephora’s November Sales Event and saw that while customers continue to favor some well-established brands, there were also some notable shifts in preference.

The top selling brands during the sales event were Sephora Collection, Summer Fridays, Charlotte Tilbury, Sol de Janeiro, and DIOR—each of which were already within the top 10 year-to-date. 

On the other hand, Dyson made a notable leap into the top 10 during the sales event, a 20+ position improvement in ranking vs year-to-date figures (Jan 1 - Oct 31, 2024). This shift represents a growing trend of customers waiting for savings events to score higher ASP items. Our data indicates that ~18% of Dyson sales at Sephora in 2024 through November 25 came from the November sales event, vs ~11% in 2023.

As customers increasingly concentrate their spending on promotional periods for higher priced products, both legacy and indie brands have been impacted. In the foundation category specifically, DIOR (higher price point) saw a meaningful uptick in market share throughout the sales event, while Fenty, ILIA, and IT Cosmetics saw share declines.