NPD now keeps an eye on web and TV direct-to-consumer sales.

The prestige beauty industry now has a read on online and TV shopping for the first time. The NPD Group, Inc. has expanded its coverage of the U.S. prestige beauty market through its new BeautyTrends Direct, a point-of-sale service that tracks direct-to-consumer sales of fragrance, makeup, and skin care products sold on department store websites, in key online-only beauty retailers, and through TV/home shopping retailers. Initial findings revealed that direct-to-consumer beauty sales increased 18% in 2012, to $1.96 billion, compared to 2011. Skin care represented more than half of those sales, followed by makeup with almost a third of annual dollars.

 “At nearly twenty percent of the U.S. prestige beauty market, the direct-to-consumer channel is increasing, and playing a larger role in shaping leading market trends,” said Karen Grant, vice president and senior global industry analyst, The NPD Group—and a member of Beauty Packaging’s Board of Advisors.