Key stat: After beauty's social return on ad spend (ROAS) dipped to $1.90 in Q4 2024, the category saw a marked jump up to $3.50 in Q1 2025. This data was provided in partnership with Cart.com—an official EMARKETER data partner. For more benchmarking data, please check out our Industry KPIs product.

Beyond the chart:

• 56% of beauty executives worldwide expect increased customer scrutiny on perceived value for money is expected to be the biggest theme to shape the beauty industry in the next few years, according to March data from Business of Fashion and McKinsey & Company.
• Over a quarter of US Gen Zers (27%) and millennials (26%) consider skincare and beauty products to be a necessity, per an April survey from Credit Karma and The Harris Poll.

Use this chart: Marketers can use this chart as a beauty roadmap for post-tariff performance. They can create relevance, meet consumers where they scroll, and optimize for outcomes, not just reach. As budgets tighten and attention fragments, beauty’s resilience shows what’s possible with strong influencer platforms and the staying power of social media to keep trends alive and drive conversion.

Related EMARKETER reports:

• Beauty Ecommerce 2025 (EMARKETER subscription required)
• Gen Z Technology and Media Preferences 2025 (EMARKETER subscription required)

Methodology: Cart.com collects quarterly data across beauty, apparel, and lead generation sectors. This data encompasses 35+ beauty campaigns, 110+ apparel campaigns, and 40+ lead generation campaigns across paid search, paid social, and programmatic media. Campaign performance metrics are benchmarked and filtered for accuracy, focusing on engagement, conversions, and cost efficiency across targeted ad placements.