Ecommerce OS · Skincare6 min readUpdated October 26, 2026

Skincare Brand Benchmarks: Conversion Rate, AOV, CAC and Churn

Conversion rate, order value, CAC, email, subscription retention and upsell benchmarks for skincare brands, with sample, source and date.

Nick Bonnassies, CMO at Tagada · checked against 9 sources

Article summary

TL;DR

A Shopify skincare brand converts around 2.7% at the median, with a $66 median order value and a $44 median CAC, according to Polar's 4,000+ brand panel. Large beauty retailers convert higher, around 5.4%, and beauty has the highest cart abandonment of any sector in Dynamic Yield's data, near 80%. Always check which sample a number comes from before comparing.

Beauty & Personal Care median: 2.74% conversion, $66 AOV, $44.29 CAC (Polar Analytics, updated August 25, 2026).
Large retailers in Dynamic Yield's data: 5.38% conversion over 12 months and 79.94% cart abandonment, the highest of all sectors (read October 12, 2026).
Across ecommerce, 70.22% of carts are abandoned; 10% of abandoners had their card declined (Baymard).
Health and beauty flows convert 1.65% of email recipients into orders, against 1.02% for campaigns (Klaviyo 2026).
25% of lost subscriptions are lost to a failed payment (Stripe, January 2024).

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These numbers feed the hub of our skincare playbook, the best ecommerce platform for skincare brands. Use them to find your weakest metric, then open the guide that fixes it.

Benchmarks at a glance

Metric	Benchmark	Source	Sample
Conversion rate	2.74% median	Polar1	4,000+ Shopify brands
Conversion rate	5.38% over 12 months	Dynamic Yield2	Its customers, global, large retailers
Average order value	$66 median	Polar1	Shopify brands
Average order value	$79 (September)	Dynamic Yield2	Large retailers
CAC	$44.29 median	Polar1	Shopify brands
Cart abandonment, beauty	79.94%, highest of all sectors	Dynamic Yield2	Large retailers
Cart abandonment, all ecommerce	70.22%	Baymard3	Average of 50 studies
Email order rate, health and beauty	1.02% campaigns, 1.65% flows	Klaviyo4	183,000+ customers
SMS revenue per recipient, health and beauty	$0.32 campaigns, $2.09 flows	Klaviyo4	183,000+ customers
Subscription retention, beauty	86% at 1 month, 54% at 6, 39% at 12	Recharge (2021 data)5	12,000+ merchants
Subscribers reaching 3rd / 4th order	60% / 50%	Recharge, May 20256	All categories
Lost subscriptions due to failed payments	25%	Stripe7	Stripe data
Post-purchase upsell acceptance	4.7% average, 28.3% for the top offers	ReConvert (2023 data)8	Tens of thousands of brands

2.74%

Median conversion, 4,000+ Shopify beauty brands (Polar)

$66

Median order value, same Polar sample

$44.29

Median CAC, same Polar sample

79.94%

Beauty cart abandonment, large retailers (Dynamic Yield)

Why sources disagree

Conversion runs from 2.74% to 5.38% depending on the source1 2. Neither is wrong.

Source	Who is in it	Why the number differs
Polar	4,000+ Shopify brands, mostly DTC	Many young brands, paid social traffic
Dynamic Yield	Its customers, large retailers	Known brands, loyal and returning traffic

Fig. 1Same metric, two samples

Polar: 4,000+ Shopify brands

Who is in itMostly DTC, many young brands
bringsTrafficPaid social

2.74% median conversion: the DTC skincare reference

Dynamic Yield: large retailers

Who is in itIts customers, known brands, global
bringsTrafficLoyal and returning

5.38% conversion over 12 months

Pick the sample that looks like you before you compare.

Polar Analytics, August 25, 2026; Dynamic Yield, read October 12, 2026.

Compare yourself with the sample closest to your business. A DTC skincare brand on Shopify should start with Polar's numbers.

Conversion and abandonment

Median 2.74% for Shopify beauty brands1.
Beauty abandonment is the highest of any sector in Dynamic Yield's data, at 79.94%2.
10% of abandoners across ecommerce cite a declined card, 40% extra costs3.

Beauty shoppers compare a lot and often need help choosing products for their skin type. Diagnosis and fixes: why your skincare brand gets traffic but no sales.

Order value

$66 median on Shopify1; $79 at large retailers in September2.
A single cleanser or serum sits below the median; a 3-step routine sits above it.

Raising it without discounting the brand: how to increase AOV for a skincare brand and how to sell skincare routines.

Acquisition cost

$44.29 median CAC for Beauty & Personal Care on Polar1.
Compare it with gross profit on the first order and the next 90 days, not with revenue.

Work through payback in LTV and CAC for a skincare brand.

Email and SMS

Channel	Campaigns	Automated flows
Email, order rate	1.02%	1.65%
SMS, revenue per recipient	$0.32	$2.09

Klaviyo, health and beauty, 20264.

Fig. 2Email order rate: campaigns vs. automated flows

Campaigns1.02%
Automated flows1.65%

Source: Klaviyo, health and beauty, 2026

Flows convert more of the people they reach.

Klaviyo, Email and SMS benchmarks, health and beauty, 2026, 183,000+ customers.

Automated flows outperform campaigns on both channels. See email flows and SMS flows for skincare brands.

Subscription and retention

Point in the subscription	Benchmark	Source
Still subscribed after 1 month	86% (beauty)	Recharge, 2021 data5
After 6 months	54% (beauty)	Recharge5
After 12 months	39% (beauty)	Recharge5
Reach the 3rd order	60% (all categories)	Recharge, May 20256
Reach the 4th order	50% (all categories)	Recharge6
Lost to failed payment	25% of lost subscriptions	Stripe7

The beauty retention figures are from 2021 data; use them as a shape, not a target.

Fig. 3Beauty subscribers still active, by month

Still subscribed

The steepest drop comes before month 6.

Recharge, State of Subscription Commerce, 2022 edition (2021 data), beauty.

Fixes: subscriptions and churn and failed payment recovery for skincare brands.

Upsells after checkout

Benchmark	Value	Source
Average acceptance	4.7%	ReConvert, 2023 data8
Top-performing offers	28.3%	ReConvert8
Merchants who optimize	16.2%, about 4% otherwise	Zipify, July 20269

Fig. 4Post-purchase upsell acceptance

Average acceptance (ReConvert)4.7%
Merchants who optimize (Zipify)16.2%
Top-performing offers (ReConvert)28.3%

Source: ReConvert (2023 data) and Zipify (July 2026)

The gap is the offer, not the category.

ReConvert, 2023 data; Zipify, 15,000+ stores, July 16, 2026.

See one-click upsells for skincare brands.

Measure your own

Metric	Formula	Cadence
Conversion rate	Orders ÷ sessions, by channel and device	Weekly
AOV	Revenue after discounts ÷ orders	Weekly
CAC	Acquisition spend ÷ new customers	Monthly
90-day repeat rate	Customers with a 2nd order within 90 days ÷ new customers	Monthly, by cohort
Subscription retention	Share still active at months 1, 3, 6, 12	Monthly, by cohort
Upsell acceptance	Upsells accepted ÷ orders shown an upsell	Weekly

What to fix first

Symptom	Likely cause	Guide
Conversion under 2%	Shoppers unsure what fits their skin	Traffic but no sales
AOV under $66	Single products, no routine	Skincare routines
CAC rising	Missing purchase data, weak offer	Server-side tracking
Subscribers leave before the 3rd order	Wrong cycle, no skip or swap	Subscriptions and churn

Conversion under 2%Shoppers unsure what fits their skin.Traffic but no sales guide
AOV under $66Single products, no routine.Skincare routines guide
CAC risingMissing purchase data, weak offer.Server-side tracking guide
Subscribers leave before the 3rd orderWrong cycle, no skip or swap.Subscriptions and churn guide

How Tagada helps

One stack behind conversion, AOV and retention

Conversion and AOV: one-page checkout with Apple Pay and Google Pay, order bumps, one-click upsells, A/B tests
Retention: subscriptions with trials, billing cycles, retries and automatic recovery
CAC accuracy: server-side events to Meta, Google and TikTok
Fewer lost payments: routing across Stripe, Adyen and TagadaPay, with cascade on decline

Plans are on the pricing page.

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One stack behind conversion, AOV and retention

Updated on October 26, 2026

Nick Bonnassies

CMO at Tagada

CMO at Tagada. Before Tagada, Nick built direct-to-consumer brands that generated over $115M in sales, raised over $25M in crowdfunding and sold two of them. He also works as a fractional CMO on marketing operations and AI systems.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good conversion rate for a skincare brand?

Around 2.7% for a Shopify beauty brand at the median, according to Polar's panel of 4,000+ brands. Large beauty retailers convert higher, around 5.4% in Dynamic Yield's data, because their traffic is more loyal. Compare yourself with the sample closest to your business.

What is the average order value for skincare?

$66 at the median for Beauty & Personal Care Shopify brands, and $79 in September for large retailers in Dynamic Yield's data. Selling a routine of 2 or 3 products is the usual way to move above the median.

How much does it cost to acquire a skincare customer?

The median CAC for Beauty & Personal Care on Polar is $44.29. Compare it with the gross profit a customer brings in the first 90 days, not only on the first order.

What is a normal subscription retention for skincare?

In Recharge's 2021 data, 86% of beauty subscribers were still active after 1 month, 54% after 6 months and 39% after 12. Across categories in 2025, 60% of subscribers reach a third order. Failed payments cause 25% of lost subscriptions, according to Stripe.

Sources

Checked October 26, 2026

Tagada

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