A cosmetics brand sells in several worlds at once: in pharmacies, in perfumery chains, through online retailers such as Notino and Douglas, on marketplaces and in its own online shop. Each channel has its own prices, its own promotions and its own sellers. To understand how the brand is represented on the market, you need to see the whole picture — and here cosmetics has specifics that most other categories do not.
One product, dozens of listings
The same cream comes in different sizes, in a travel format, as refills, in gift sets and in limited editions. Retailers add bundles of their own: "1+1", a cream with a free miniature, a holiday set. Each size has its own EAN barcode, while sets often have none.
For monitoring, this means two things. First, matching has to tell sizes and sets apart: comparing the price of a 200 ml product with the recommended retail price (RRP) of the 50 ml one creates a false "violation" in the opposite direction, while a set priced as a single item creates a false price drop. Second, to compare different sizes, the unit price is useful — per 100 ml or 100 g, which shops in the EU are, as a rule, already required to display.
Channels you need to see
- Pharmacies — a key channel for dermocosmetics. Online pharmacies compete hard on price and often give deep discounts on individual products.
- Perfumery and beauty chains — set the price benchmark and run large seasonal promotions.
- Marketplaces — a single product listing may have several sellers, including ones the brand has no contract with.
- The brand's own website — if its prices are higher than those of partners, shoppers will notice.
Third-party sellers, parallel imports and counterfeits
When a product sells well below its usual price, the reasons vary: a stock clearance, a product nearing its expiry date, parallel imports from another country, an unauthorised seller or a counterfeit. Monitoring that records the seller and the page helps you tell one from another.
It is important to remember that parallel trade within the EU is legal: a product lawfully placed on the market in one EU country may be resold in another. Luxury brands often use selective distribution, selling only through selected partners. In the Coty case (2017), the Court of Justice of the EU held that such a brand may prohibit its authorised distributors from selling through third-party marketplaces. Banning them from selling online altogether is not permitted — this follows from the Pierre Fabre judgment (2011).
Promotions and seasonality
Cosmetics is a category of constant promotions: retailer discounts, promo codes, Black Friday, Christmas gift sets, brand days. A brand needs to see where and when its products are on promotion, how long the promotions last and how deep they go. The EU discount rule requires sellers to state the lowest price over the previous 30 days when they reduce a price, but your own price history is a more reliable basis.
What to track
- The price of each product at each seller and its deviation from the RRP.
- Availability: a product may be cheaper at a seller who does not actually have it in stock.
- Who is selling: the appearance of new sellers, especially on marketplaces.
- Assortment coverage: which products a retailer carries and which it does not.
- Promotions: when they started, how deep they were and how long they lasted.
If you work with an RRP in the EU, keep in mind the line between recommending a price and pressuring sellers — covered in detail in the article "Recommended Retail Prices in the EU: What Brands Can and Cannot Do".
How it works in Helecos
Helecos imports your catalogue from a product feed, finds your products at retailers, pharmacies and marketplaces, and matches them using AI with 99% accuracy. Prices are collected on a schedule; every check stores the price, availability, seller and time, and deviations from the RRP also get a screenshot of the page. Learn more on the cosmetics price monitoring page.