79% of people in the UAE have increased video viewing on Facebook over the past year

Mobile devices and the visual web are making beauty more transparent and accessible than ever before for women in the UAE. This has led to the emergence of real women who are shaping beauty trends alongside established beauty brands and recognized industry experts.

Facebook IQ commissioned GfK combined with conversation data from Facebook and Instagram, to better understand the beauty consumer decision journey and help get to know today’s beauty shopper a little better.

Women in the UAE tend to be highly engaged about beauty and makeup on the platform and at the heart of this lies the emergence of mobile usage. Facebook’s research, explored how mobile is changing the purchase journey for beauty products. The study looked specifically at female beauty buyers “omni-channel shoppers”— who reported researching or purchasing a beauty/cosmetics product online (e.g., via smartphone, tablet or computer).

Key discoveries from the UAE are:

Mobile wins the beauty contest

In today’s increasingly cross-device, omni-channel path to purchase, the only constant seems to be mobile. 88% of beauty buyers consider mobile as the main shopping tool. According to another Facebook IQ survey[1] commissioned earlier this year, Smartphones are driving video’s momentum showing that people surveyed in the UAE are 1.40x more likely to watch video daily on mobile than on computer and 77% of people surveyed prefer video under 10 minutes.

The video beauty counter

Amidst video consumption, beauty is the most viewed topic in the UAE. Users in this region spend more time watching beauty videos than compared to other countries:

66% are interested in before and after beauty transformation (vs 56% avg across 4 countries)

74% are interested in beauty haul videos (vs 48%)

53% are looking for beauty unpacking videos (vs 35%)

Lastly, online shopping is a convenient way to make the final purchase or replace UAE female buyers’ favorites without a trip to the store. Understanding the impact of mobile and how beauty is becoming more accessible and achievable is essential to breaking through the clutter. By being at the right place at the right time and with the right message, brands can have a powerful effect and move consumers through Facebook purchase funnel.