China Cosmetics Market Grows 4.35% in H1 2026, Live-Streaming E-commerce Takes 57% Share

In the first half of 2026, total transactions in China's cosmetics market across all channels reached RMB 611.41 billion, up 4.35% year on year. Online channel transactions amounted to approximately RMB 380.89 billion, up 5.74%, while offline channel transactions reached about RMB 230.52 billion, up 2.13%. This marked the first time in years that both online and offline channels recorded positive growth simultaneously.

Within the online channel, live-streaming e-commerce platforms such as Douyin became the main driver of cosmetics sales, with total transactions exceeding RMB 210 billion in the first half, representing a market share of about 57%. Douyin alone held a 53% share of online cosmetics retail, with transactions surpassing RMB 200 billion. During the period, the growth rate of transaction volume on Douyin outpaced that of transaction value. Meanwhile, average transaction prices on platforms such as Taobao, Tmall, and JD. com increased.

Offline foot traffic recovered notably. From January to June 2026, all approximately 9,500 large shopping malls nationwide recorded positive year-on-year foot traffic growth, with May and June seeing increases of 19.50% and 19.30%, respectively. In June, average daily foot traffic reached 32,000 people per project. At the same time, offline store structures continued to adjust. As of the end of June 2026, the number of operating cosmetics department store counters nationwide stood at about 38,000, down 14% year on year, marking the seventh consecutive year of contraction since 2019. Cosmetics specialty stores numbered about 128,000, down 0.22% year on year. Supermarkets totaled about 2.454 million, up 9.00%, while convenience stores reached about 459,000, up 5.60%. Average transaction value per cosmetics specialty store showed signs of recovery, with positive year-on-year growth in five of the six months, except for January, which fell 10.61%. The high growth in February was affected by the timing of the Chinese New Year; when January and February are combined, average transaction value per store grew modestly year on year, with March and June both rising more than 5%.

Online transactions for beauty and skincare products fell 5.40% year on year in the first half of 2026, with transaction volume down 3.46%, making it the only major category to record negative growth. By subcategory, five segments—skincare gift sets, lotions/creams, masks, essential oil aromatherapy, and eye care—together declined by RMB 6.192 billion. The brand with the largest decline in facial care gift sets saw a drop of RMB 1.538 billion, mainly due to negative public opinion at the end of 2025; the other four brands in this segment fell by a combined more than RMB 1 billion. Among the five brands with the largest declines in the lotion/cream category, most were domestic white-label brands, with one international mass-market brand.

By price tier, the premium market above RMB 400 saw transaction value rise about 3.31% year on year in the first half of 2026, with transaction volume roughly flat. Estée Lauder's products above RMB 400 saw transaction value increase by RMB 1.08 billion, SkinCeuticals by RMB 970 million, and La Mer, Lancôme, and Helena Rubinstein each added more than RMB 500 million. Mid-range and mass-market brands in the above-RMB 400 skincare segment saw combined transaction value fall by about RMB 6 billion. In the mid-range market of RMB 100–400, about 690 of the top 1,000 online brands recorded negative growth, with combined transaction value down about RMB 9.8 billion. In the low-end market below RMB 100, about 620 of the top 1,000 brands saw negative growth, with combined transaction value down about RMB 5 billion, most of which were white-label brands. In the first half of 2026, the variety of product offerings decreased across all price tiers, with the low-end skincare market losing 364,800 items, the mid-range market about 152,100 items, and the premium market about 79,100 items, for a total reduction of 596,000 items.