--- title: "What are the top fraud trends for health & beauty merchants?" date: 2022-01-20T11:50:00+00:00 author: Lola Omo-Ikerodah canonical_url: "https://www.ravelin.com/blog/health-beauty-retail-industry-pulse-challenges-fraud-risks" section: Blog --- Blog /[Payments & payment fraud](/resources?search=&category%5B0%5D=189241#resourceContainer "Go to Payments & payment fraud"), [Promo abuse](/resources?search=&category%5B0%5D=244453#resourceContainer "Go to Promo abuse") # What are the top fraud trends for health & beauty merchants? It’s all about self-care! Our newfound habits and steps to improve wellbeing are driving demand for health and beauty products through the roof. Are you up to speed with the new trends? 20 January 2022 ![What are the top fraud trends for health & beauty merchants?](https://storage.googleapis.com/ravelin-website-assets-production/assets/images/_blogSmall/132997/Health-Beauty-inforgraphic-feature-image.webp) The health and beauty industry has remained one of the most successful sectors to come out from the pandemic. Online sales are expected to [reach $358.4 billion by 2026](https://www.cosmeticsdesign-europe.com/Article/2021/08/24/Health-and-beauty-global-sales-to-reach-1.14-trillion-by-2026-with-online-representing-50-says-Edge-Retail-Insight). This rapid growth has seen [retailers attempt to make further inroads](https://www.warc.com/newsandopinion/news/e-commerce-to-dominate-future-of-health-and-beauty-sector/44002) into the industry through enhanced online services and product lines. Some bigger brands are even making moves to [acquire smaller digital-led skincare brands](https://www.ascentialedge.com/insights/blog/ecommerce/health-and-beauty-ecommerce). This means lots of new players in the ecommerce space – prime targets for fraudsters. Find out how the industry is shifting and how fraudsters are making the most of this new wave of activity… ## Customers are moving online [Over a third of consumers](https://www.cosmeticsdesign-europe.com/Article/2020/11/16/Beauty-e-commerce-trends-2020-mean-user-generated-content-and-technology-important-says-Feelunique?) buy their health and beauty products online or use digital media to assist their buying decisions. Around [40% of health and beauty product consumers](https://chainstoreage.com/how-attract-online-health-and-beauty-shoppers) primarily get advice online. Compared to 20% who get their advice in-store from sales associates. [Augmented Reality (AR) and other disruptive technologies ](https://www.yieldify.com/free-guides/beauty-ecommerce-trends/)are changing the way consumers discover, experience and connect with health and beauty brands. Many are now providing updated digital services from virtually trying on make-up looks to evidence-based skin analysis. But as businesses ramp up their online offerings, fraudsters are sure to follow! ## The rise of the subscription box [](https://www.cscglobal.com/cscglobal/pdfs/The-Cost-of%20Online-Counterfeiting-Consumer-Electronics-EN.pdf) By 2023 as many as [75% of consumer brands will have a subscription-based offering](https://www.forbes.com/sites/kaleighmoore/2020/07/15/retail-subscriptions-thrive-during-covid-19/). This is huge! In the US 40% of consumers use subscription billing and this number is rising. The subscription box market is set to be worth around $2.6 billion (£1.8 billion) by 2025 in the UK alone. Key health and beauty players include Birchbox, Glossybox and BoxyCharm. However, [60-80% of fraud claims in this space](https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/customers-fight-surprise-charges-online-subscriptions-surge-n1252149) are from customers contesting charges for services that they forgot to cancel. This can lead to bigger problems down the line. How do you differentiate this from friendly fraud or refund and promo abuse? Does your business have a plan in place? ## Social commerce is on the up [Around 30% of health and beauty consumers use social media](https://www.marketingweek.com/social-commerce-how-willing-are-consumers-to-buy-through-social-media/) to browse for new products. [Nine out of ten Instagram users](https://www.premiumbeautynews.com/en/social-media-new-beauty-influence,18406) follow at least one brand and [social selling will be a key trend this year](https://influencermarketinghub.com/influencer-marketing-statistics/). This convergence of social media and ecommerce convergence has brought brands a massive opportunity for growth. ​​US social commerce sales are set to surpass [$36 billion this year](https://www.insiderintelligence.com/insights/social-commerce-brand-trends-marketing-strategies/). Social media provides [new avenues for purchasing products](https://uk.liveareacx.com/trends/beauty-social-media-influencers-ecommerce/#social) and delivering customer service. We know how adaptable fraudsters are, so what does this mean for fraud? ![Health & Beauty](https://storage.googleapis.com/ravelin-website-assets-production/assets/images/081-Infographics-HEALTH-BEAUTY.png) #### Equip your team with the tools they need to tackle fraud in 2022 If you'd like to hear more about how Ravelin can help your business, click below for details. [Learn more](https://www.ravelin.com/retail) #### Source list - [Industry definition](https://www.statista.com/statistics/192647/leading-us-health-and-beauty-care-product-categories-in-2013/) - [Health & Beauty predicted growth](https://commonthreadco.com/blogs/coachs-corner/beauty-industry-cosmetics-marketing-ecommerce) - [Ecommerce share of Health & Beauty sales](https://www.happi.com/issues/2021-10-01/view_features/threats-to-e-commerce-growth-for-beauty-brands/) - [Digital shoppers](https://www.cosmeticsdesign-europe.com/Article/2020/11/16/Beauty-e-commerce-trends-2020-mean-user-generated-content-and-technology-important-says-Feelunique?) - [Health & Beauty subscriptions](https://emerchantbroker.com/blog/how-online-fraud-is-stunting-the-health-and-beauty-sectors/) - [Subscription fraud claims](https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/customers-fight-surprise-charges-online-subscriptions-surge-n1252149) - [Social media](https://www.marketingweek.com/social-commerce-how-willing-are-consumers-to-buy-through-social-media/) ## Author ![Lola Omo-Ikerodah](https://storage.googleapis.com/ravelin-website-assets-production/assets/images/_avatarSmall/101467/lola.webp) Lola Omo-IkerodahContent Writer (Ravelin alumna) Lola has previously served as Content Writer at Ravelin. 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