How the Mouthwash category compares to selected peer categories
By: Andrew Bose, Analytics and Media Manager, and Ashton Brown, Technical Writer
Each year, Amazon researchers analyze customer shopping trends at the category level to discover actionable insights that advertisers can use to inform their marketing strategies.
Story highlights:
In this article, we present a peer-to-peer analysis of shopping behaviours between November 2019 and October 2021 within the Personal Care industry on Amazon.com. To conduct the comparison, we use the Mouthwash category as a focal point to analyze the year-over-year growth rate of total sales and shopping trends (shopping queries, entry segments, etc.).
Selecting one category as the focal point allows advertisers to better understand how the Mouthwash category compares to peer categories.
Mouthwash is 10th-largest category in the Personal Care industry
At the time of our analysis, the Mouthwash category is tenth in sales and ninth in sales growth rank amongst other peer categories, including:
- Toothpaste (first in sales and third in sales growth)
- Razors/Cartridges/Disposables (second in sales and third in sales growth rank)
- Antiperspirants/Deodorants (third in sales and fourth in sales growth)
- Oral Care Accessories (fourth in sales and second in sales growth)
Mouthwash category performance between November 2020 and October 2021 on Amazon.com
Sales rank amongst Personal Care Categories
Sales growth rank amongst Personal Care Categories
82% of new-to-category Mouthwash shoppers purchase other products in Amazon’s store
Mouthwash new-to-category customers (customers shopping in the category for the first time) show a high propensity of overlap in other categories on Amazon. For example, our research shows that 82% of new-to-category customers purchase products from other categories prior to purchasing Personal Care products. Top overlap categories, ordered by purchase propensity, are:
- Prepared produce (packaged salads/kits)
- Deli (snack kits/packaged meats)
- Bakery (bread/bagels)
- Household consumables (baby wipes/cleaning products)
- Meat (turkey/chicken)
New-to-category shoppers primarily enter the Mouthwash category between November and January
Between December 2020 and November 2021, millions of new shoppers visited the Mouthwash category. Since these are all potential customers, it is important to understand how and when these new-to-category shoppers entered. Our data shows that new-to-category shoppers primarily shopped on Amazon between November and January, with August also being a high entry point.
Monthly share of annual new-to-category shoppers (November ‘20 – October ‘21)
November ‘20 – October ‘21
67% of new-to-category customers enter the category through the Fresh Breath sub-category
Customers shopping for Mouthwash typically come to the category looking for fresh breath, with 67% of the new-to-category customers entering through the Fresh Breath sub-category in 2021.
Top entry sub-categories
Fresh Breath: 67%
Anticavity: 18%
Alcohol Free: 11%
Whitening: 4%
What were the top shopping trends in Mouthwash during the final 12-months studied?
In terms of shopping query volume, the leading queries “mouthwash” and “hydrogen peroxide” remain high, but there is some significant growth in other categories, including “travel size toiletries” and “floss”.
To increase ad reach, Mouthwash advertisers should consider including top generic terms such as “mouthwash” and “hydrogen peroxide” and top growing terms such as “travel size toiletries” and “floss” into sponsored ads campaigns.
Conclusion
As seen in this study, Mouthwash is the tenth-largest category in terms of sales in Amazon’s store. Customers enter the category (shopped for the first time) consistently throughout the year – with November to January being the top entry points. 67% of customers enter the category through the Fresh Breath sub-category.
To improve performance on Amazon, Mouthwash advertisers should consider including top keywords (by size and by trending) to their sponsored ads campaigns. Also, advertisers should consider the top overlap categories and entry categories when determining when and how to reach new-to-category shoppers.