Key stat: Health and beauty AOV fell 7.8% YoY to $62.26 in March 2026, the only industry to decline while eight other categories posted gains, according to a March report from impact.com.

Beyond the chart:

• Shoppers aren't spending less overall, they're consolidating trips into bigger baskets and steering that spend toward experiences over essentials. Order sizes grew 1.9% in 2025 even as trip frequency slipped, and amusement and entertainment spending jumped 14% YoY, with transaction volume up 7%, according to Cardlytics.
• Beauty's slump isn't a one-month blip. Health and beauty order values were already down 10.9% during the December 2025 holiday season, when demand typically lifts baskets, as falling confidence and a softer labor market pushed shoppers toward smaller, more cautious purchases, according to impact.com Industry KPI data.

Use this chart: Drop this into a category planning or budget deck to show where per-order spending is heading in 2026. Use it to benchmark your vertical's AOV against peers, and to frame the strategic question: Why are beauty baskets shrinking while shoppers pour more into experiences and big-ticket categories?

Related EMARKETER reports:

• Generational Shopping Trends 2026 (EMARKETER subscription required)
• The Health and Wellness Market 2026 (EMARKETER subscription required)

Methodology: Data is from the North American retail campaigns from January 1 – December 31, 2025, and January 1 – March 31, 2026. Only consistently active “same-store campaigns” were included, while high-revenue “whales” were excluded to prevent bias. All data is anonymized, aggregated, and privacy-compliant.