Report Uncovers New Truths about Walmart; Beauty Consumers

An astonishing "71% of women shop for beauty and personal care items at Walmart every week," according to the 2010 Pink Report Women & Walmart: Seeing Through the Eyes of the Beauty and Personal Care Consumer. The Benchmarking Company (TBC) publishes the Pink Report yearly as each edition explores of-the-moment issues affecting the beauty industry. The 2010 Pink Report focuses on how Walmart affects the beauty industry, and why and how women shop for beauty and personal care products at the world's largest retailer.

According to the research, women's opinions on Walmart have changed and old truths no longer apply. Where once she may have been embarrassed to shop for her beauty or personal care items at Walmart, or wouldn't admit that she was a Walmart shopper, women consumers, today, love Walmart, and are not afraid to admit it. Walmart is an important part of her shopping behavior, and with 18 new beauty truths, the 2010 Pink Report unveils her true thoughts on shopping for her favorite beauty and personal care items there. Today's beauty consumer has come undone, and she's operating under a whole new set of truths where convenience, price, value and most importantly (authenticity) are the keys to her wallet.

"Women & Walmart was so important to us because when 200 million people do something each week, it's critical that we understand what and why," said Alisa Maria Beyer, founder and creative director, TBC.  "Whether your brand is at Walmart or not, what is happening there and how consumers are spending their time and dollars inside the store is vital to the entire beauty and personal care industry. My goal with this report was to give the folks on Madison Avenue an intimate look at Main Street USA to see what's really going on. It's easy to become out of touch with the real beauty consumer. It's important that we get back to her."

The Pink Report findings highlight that both Walmart and beauty brands can benefit from understanding several key themes that are impacting women's lives today as they make purchasing decisions about beauty brands. For example, women view Walmart as their top destination for beauty and personal care purchases—71% of women shop there for beauty and personal care products. And today, Walmart means more to women than just bargains or low prices: 67% of women strongly agree that Walmart offers premium brands for less.

The Pink Report also provides detailed statistics on:

  • How much money she spends at Walmart every time she shops there
  • What brands she's buying (or not) and why
  • What she really thinks of generics
  • How she spends her time once she's inside the store
  • Will Walmart.com get her to click and shop?
  • Her true thoughts on the retailer as a beauty authority
  • Why she seeks out beauty products at other retailers besides Walmart

The 2010 Pink Report: Women & Walmart: Seeing Through the Eyes of the Beauty and Personal Care Consumer was written for all beauty and personal care executives; marketing, brand and product managers; research and development specialists; advertising and public relations professionals, and anyone who wants to better understand how Walmart is poised to be the world's largest and most influential beauty retailer, and what it means to you.

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