Smaller beauty brands are shaking up the retail space by achieving faster-growing sales than their big name competitors.

Independently owned and operated brands with under $300 million in revenue, called "indie beauty brands" by NielsenIQ in a new report, are rising fast online and outpacing their conglomerate competitors in-store.

• Indie beauty brands’ in-store sales grew 11.2% over the previous year, according to November 2025 NielsenIQ data.
• Conglomerates saw flat (+0.1%) in-store sales during the same period.
• Indie beauty brands achieved 27.8% YoY growth online, higher than conglomerates’ 17.5% growth.

In-store shakeup

Indie beauty brands sell 70% of their products online, according to NielsenIQ.

The growth in-store, compared to conglomerates’ flat sales, indicates a shift by retailers to give more shelf space and exposure to smaller brands.

Last year, Walmart launched 40 Beauty Bar pop-ups in-store, and added over 40 premium brands over the last two years, including several smaller companies.

Also in the last year, Neiman Marcus partnered with Scentbird to launch a subscription service featuring 30 high-end luxury fragrances.

Adding novel experiences in-store has grown as a focus for retailers, from expanding their product offerings to specializing in scented out-of-home experiences. This has created an opportunity for smaller brands who could benefit from that in-store exposure.

Catching up with conglomerates

For the 52-week period ending in November, indie beauty brands hit $40.0 billion in sales, compared to $85.1 billion by conglomerates, according to NielsenIQ's data. Those are big gains over the previous two years, when indie beauty brands sold $28.2 billion, and conglomerates $74.6 billion.

• Indie brands have the biggest market share, across all beauty categories, in facial skin care products, with 41%, per NielsenIQ.
• The smallest share for smaller beauty brands is in fragrances, with 29% versus conglomerates’ 71% share.

Momentum for indie beauty brands will likely continue this year. One sign is Sephora’s partnership with retailer Olive Young to launch a curated assortment of Korean beauty products this fall.

Ulta Beauty has also partnered with online retailer K-Beauty World to increase its K-beauty selection with exclusive brand deals.

US shoppers spent $2 billion on K-beauty products in the 12 months ending in July 2025, up 37% YoY, according to data from Nielsen shared with Business Insider.

• Through September 2025, prestige makeup sales were up 3% over the previous year, versus only 1% for mass-market makeup, according to a November Circana study.
• Prestige hair products showed an 8% increase over the same period, versus 4% for mass-market hair brands, per Circana.

Recent efforts by Amazon to promote premium and luxury beauty brands, through Summer Beauty Events, could also influence omnichannel shoppers who learn about products online, but like to try on in-store.

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