74% of UK Gen Z would spend £100+ on fragrance. Are beauty brands underestimating their spending power?

SoPost and UNiDAYS Sample Society data challenges assumptions about Gen Z’s spending power in beauty. So, what does it take for brands to win their spend?

Gen Z has no shortage of brands competing for their attention. They’re also regularly described as price-conscious, selective and harder to win over.

Yet 74% of UK Gen Z Sample Society members would spend £100 or more on a single fragrance.

That’s not exactly a generation unwilling to part with their money. And fragrance is firmly part of their everyday routine: 87% wear fragrance daily, compared with just 49% who wear makeup every day.

That’s an interesting distinction for a generation so often associated with beauty trends driven by makeup. For these consumers, fragrance appears to be the more consistent daily beauty habit. 

The issue for beauty brands isn’t whether Gen Z will spend - it’s whether your product gives them enough reason to choose it. And when you look at the wider data, a pretty clear picture emerges of what helps them make that decision. 

Gen Z keeps exploring. Brands have to keep earning their place.

45% try a new brand every two to three months.

For brands trying to win new customers, that’s good news. Almost half of Gen Z are regularly trying something different, but there’s another side to it.

If they’re willing to try you, they’re willing to try someone else too. Being the brand they chose last time doesn’t guarantee you’ll be the brand they choose next. With new launches, recommendations and brands constantly entering their consideration set, loyalty has to keep being earned.

So the opportunity isn’t simply getting Gen Z to notice you once, it’s giving them a product and experience worth coming back to.

43% of Gen Z rank peer review videos as their primary purchase influence.

Gen Z wants to hear from people who’ve actually tried it. For a generation surrounded by brand content, creator recommendations and endless product choice, what real consumers have to say carries weight.

Did the product live up to the promise? Was it worth the money? Would they buy it again? That makes your existing customers and product users an important part of how the next customer makes their decision.

For beauty brands, the opportunity is to give more real consumers something worth talking about - not simply relying on paid influence to do the talking for you.

Because advocacy has to start somewhere. A consumer tries the product, they form an opinion, they review it, recommend it or create content about it. Their experience becomes evidence for someone else deciding whether the product is worth their money.

And in beauty, getting that first-hand experience matters. You can show someone a fragrance bottle, describe the notes and put it in the hands of their favorite creator. But you still can't smell it through a screen.

Give consumers the chance to experience the product for themselves, and you’re not only creating an opportunity to win that customer, you’re creating the potential to influence the next one too.

Gen Z is a generation, not a targeting strategy.

Knowing someone is 22 tells you very little about whether they're the right person for your product.

It doesn't tell you whether they wear fragrance every day, whether they'd spend £100 on a bottle, whether they buy prestige beauty, or where they regularly shop. And the more relevant the product is to the person receiving it, the more meaningful everything that follows becomes.

So go deeper. Category behaviors, preferences, current brand usage, new-to-brand status.

Find the consumers with a genuine reason to care about your product, give them the opportunity to experience it, then pay attention to what they do next.

Our data doesn't show a generation beauty brands need to convince to spend.
It shows a generation willing to spend, open to something new, and listening to what other consumers have to say.

Brands that win won’t just get in front of them - they’ll give the right consumers a reason to choose, and something worth talking about afterwards.

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