US shoppers spent $14.2 billion online during Amazon’s 48-hour Prime Day sale, up 11 percent from a year ago and in line with estimates, according to Adobe Inc.

Consumers took advantage of steep discounts to update their electronics, apparel and small home appliances, according to Adobe, which tracks online spending across all US retailers during Amazon’s annual summer sale.

“It’s clear now that the Prime Day event has been a catalyst across these major categories, with discounts deep enough for consumers to hit the buy button and upgrade items in their homes,” Adobe analyst Vivek Pandya said.

Adobe measures total online spending during the Prime Day period because rival retailers offer their own deals, prompting shoppers to comparison shop multiple sites. Amazon said its marquee sale set another record for the number of items sold but didn’t provide specific sales data.

The average household spent about $152 on Amazon on Prime Day, down slightly from last year, according to Numerator, a market research firm that tracked spending from 35,588 households. Top-selling products included protein shakes, Amazon’s Fire TV Stick streaming device and Glad brand trash bags, according to Numerator.

EMarketer Inc. expected US shoppers to spend $8.2 billion on Amazon during the event, up 5.5 percent from last year. Amazon captures about 60 percent of all online spending on Prime Day, compared with 40 percent on a typical day, making it difficult to grow much further, according to EMarketer, an industry research firm.

Amazon launched Prime Day in 2015 to attract new subscribers, who pay $139 a year for shipping discounts, video streaming and other benefits. The event helps Amazon lock in shoppers before the holidays and deepen its relationship with existing customers by offering them exclusive deals on Amazon gadgets and other products. About 180 million Amazon shoppers in the US had Prime memberships as of March, up 8 percent from a year earlier, according to market research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.

By Spencer Soper

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Amazon Prime Day Sales to Hit Record $14 Billion

Spending at Amazon on Tuesday and Wednesday could rise 10.5 percent from Prime Day 2023, according to projections from Adobe Analytics.

Plastic surgery provider Sk:n Group, which was one of the UK’s largest aesthetic medicine firms, has collapsed.

According to a statement on its website, the entirety of the business, which included Sk:n Clinics, the Harley Medical Group, Skinbrands, The Skin Experts and ABC Medical ceased trading on July 17, as “extensive” efforts to secure further investment to allow it to continue trading had been unsuccessful.

Sk:n Clinics offered aesthetic medicine services such as laser and Hydrafacial brand treatments, while The Harley Medical Group provided cosmetic surgery procedures.

Sk:n Clinics was acquired by private equity firm TriSpan in 2019, and subsequently embarked on a string of its own acquisitions, including the Harley Medical Group in the same year, as well as competitor chains, eventually forming the multi-brand group it was at the time of its collapse.

Its social media accounts appeared to have been deleted. An Instagram post from Kendrick PR, which previously handled  Sk:n Clinic’s communications, said it did not receive any direct notification from the business about its closure, nor did it have information about whether administrators have been appointed or how pre-paid appointments would be managed.

According to the BBC, Sk:n Group employed more than 450 medical practitioners across England and Scotland. Prior to its closure, its website previously claimed it had “the largest network of specialist skin care clinics in the UK.”

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Lashes, Brows, Botox: How Much is Too Much?

No longer the domain of the elite, lash extensions, brow treatments, injectables and more have become part of mainstream consumers’ beauty maintenance routines. But online backlash is brewing against growing pressure for elaborate upkeep.

Meta Platforms has explored a multibillion-euro investment in eyewear group EssilorLuxottica, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

The Facebook and Instagram owner has considered taking a small stake in the 87-billion-euro Franco-Italian group, according to the report.

Shares of EssilorLuxottica jumped 6 percent on the report, while Meta stock was up 1 percent in premarket trading.

The two firms did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

EssilorLuxottica CEO Francesco Milleri said earlier this week that the new generation of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, launched last October, have sold more in a few months than the old ones did in two years.

By Yuvraj Malik

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On an app where videos of multi-step, in-depth skincare routines proliferate, Natalie Rose’s regimen seems somewhat spare.

Her small makeup bag holds just six products, mostly from drugstore brands. She has a single pair of trainers to wear most days. For the shower, she has a shampoo, conditioner and a lone bottle of CeraVe cleanser.

“Perfume collection” reads the caption across a single bottle of perfume.

Beauty’s hottest buy right now is nothing at all. Users like Rose are taking part in TikTok’s latest trending “core,” called “underconsumptioncore,” also known as “normal consumption” or “meaningful consumption”). A typical video will show an individual trying to live more modestly when it comes to their shopping habits and daily routine, usually set to the song “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish.

The goal isn’t isn’t necessarily to save money but “not wanting to engage in society’s pressure to buy,” said Casey Lewis, who writes the youth culture newsletter “After School,” as well as taking control and minimising waste.

“Tiktok has turned almost everything into an opportunity for consumerism,” said beauty journalist Laura Capon, who writes a newsletter called “Can We Discuss” about beauty and digital culture. “Even going for a walk is a shopping experience,” she said, referring to videos that show creators buying specific snacks, water bottles and accessories just to take a stroll.

It’s not the first time such sentiment has bubbled up on the app — underconsumption is something of a sequel to last year’s “deinfluencing” trend. Pushing back against unseemly excess is a sort of course-correction for consumers who feel jaded by influencers’ ongoing promotion of products and displays of their own wealth. Coupled with an ongoing high cost of living, rising consumer debt — according to the Federal Reserve, Millennial debt is higher than ever — and the proliferation of buy now, pay later services sandwiched between digital ads, it’s unsurprising that some are seeking to reclaim a simpler life.

Others, however, are looking to signal their virtue.

Value for Money

TikTok has become an incredibly promotional environment, as users can shop directly in the app, but are also constantly peering through the looking glass of others’ consumption habits. “Restocking” videos showing people re-upping their meticulously arranged pantry and refrigerator stashes of snacks and sodas, or their pristine vanities with premium personal care products are hypnotic to some, but off-putting to others. The same goes for those who post their extensive collection of Stanley cups, or Le Creuset cookware.

But not all underconsumption videos are simply about cost. In fact, many have a luxury bent, with the creator arguing a handful of prestige makeup products have lasted longer than cheaper alternatives and negated the need for other products. In one video, for example, a $75 Chanel foundation is touted as taking the place of multiple other complexion products.

Beauty frugality movements are nothing new — Reddit forums dedicated makeup and skincare have long had “what I’m not buying” style threads. But underconsumption differs from last year’s “anti-hauls” and “deinfluencing” with their focus on normalising a modest lifestyle, and on finding quality products, rather than trying to talk viewers out of buying specific products.

The beauty industry has readied itself, in part. The maximalism associated with the 2010s — bold eyeshadow, heavy contour and iPad-sized highlight palettes — has largely given way to a more minimal look with an emphasis on natural-looking skin. However, brands haven’t slowed their cadence of launches, with most trendy cosmetics brands offering multiple variants of products such as blush or lip gloss.

Capon said she’s seen videos where people show how many kinds of a certain product – blush, for example – they’ve built up. “There are some real makeup addicts … it’s a crazy amount of overspending,” she said.

Vice or Virtue?

Some of this content is designed to make viewers angry and engage with the video — also known as “rage bait.” Posting about your own modest consumption seems virtuous by contrast, said Capon.

“It’s kind of bragging that you’re not influenced,” she said.

Other creators using the trend are not fully aligning with its original intent by throwing out excess product, or showing hauls of second-hand clothing, said Lewis.

“There’s a second wave already where people are riffing and showing [excess consumption] using the template,” she said, adding those videos were light-hearted jokes at the creators’ own expense. “But a lot of these second-hand or minimal creators are actually consuming a lot of product.”

Neither Capon nor Lewis felt the trend was indicative of a long-term shift in shopping habits — people will still buy things that catch their eye — but saw it more of a slight temperature change in terms of consumers tiring of TikTok’s excessively promotional environment. Many viewers are keenly aware that influencers didn’t pay for many of the products they post about, even as they encourage their viewers to buy, creating a slightly fractious relationship.

Viewers are aware that buying lots of products doesn’t necessarily make them happy, said Capon, but that doesn’t mean the big TikTok sales machine is slowing down: Lewis said she’s already seen “back to school” haul videos ahead of the new school year in September.

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LVMH has reshuffled leadership in its watch division. Julien Tornare, TAG Heuer’s current chief, has been named CEO of Hublot, the brand known for edgy designs (by Swiss watchmaking standards) and partnerships with buzzy athletes and artists including Usain Bolt, Kylian Mbappé and Daniel Arsham. His predecessor at the watchmaker, Ricardo Guadalupe, will transition to an honorary president role.

In a statement, LVMH Watches’ CEO Frédéric Arnault thanked Guadalupe for a 20 year tenure at Hublot, during which the brand became known for “breaking design codes, communication barriers, and exploring new frontiers in watchmaking.”

Tornare’s arrival at the head of Hublot “marks the beginning of a new chapter dedicated to the future of our maison and the strengthening of its unique position,” his statement continued.

Antoine Pin, currently general manager of Bulgari Horlogerie, will succeed Julien Tornare as CEO of TAG Heuer.

The moves come in the wake of Frédéric Arnault’s nomination as CEO of LVMH’s watch division this January. The 28-year-old executive, the second-youngest of chairman Bernard Arnault’s 5 children, had been CEO of TAG Heuer since 2020.

Swiss watch brands are bracing for a slowdown after sales surged in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic. While an unexpected bump in the industry’s April exports raised hopes for a better-than-forecast year, falling sales in May seemed to reconfirm the gloomy trend.

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Frédéric Arnault Named CEO of LVMH Watches

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Disclosure: LVMH is part of a group of investors who, together, hold a minority interest in The Business of Fashion. All investors have signed shareholders’ documentation guaranteeing BoF’s complete editorial independence.