New Delhi, Oct. 28 -- India's beauty and wellness shoppers discover products on social media but buy on trust . Built on the voices of 7,783 verified Indian consumers across metros and Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, and deepened by one-on-one interviews, Hercules' new outlook shows what drives their choices: authenticity over speed, performance over prestige, and sleep as the new health goal . Click to Download the Full Report Free.

01 · TRUST

Indians discover beauty on social media, but buy on trust

Young shoppers find skincare on social media but rarely buy because of it. 40% of Gen Z skincare buyers look to Instagram creators first for a new skin concern, yet only 8% bought their last product because they saw it there ; 44% bought on brand reputation and 36% on a dermatologist's advice (100 buyers, an early signal). In fragrance, only 2.3% choose on the brand name , while 42.7% choose by the scent itself (1,500 users). Every shopper we interviewed checked reviews from real buyers before buying.

02 · AUTHENTICITY

Fast isn't enough: Indians want proof their 5-minute beauty order is genuine

Need is not the problem: 80.9% of 3,000 quick-commerce shoppers need a beauty essential or grocery item urgently at least once a week. But 55.5% say genuine products matter most in a 5-minute delivery service, twice the share of those who pick speed ( 27.8% ). Two in three (66.0%) would use such a service if it launched tomorrow, led by 25-35-year-olds, and only 4.2% would cancel if their exact shade were out of stock.

03 · WELLNESS

Sleep, not six-packs: India's wellness goal shifts to rest

Better sleep is now the health goal urban Indians pick most for the year ahead ( 14.3% ), ahead of building strength ( 12.1% ) and losing weight ( 10.7% ), according to a survey of 2,268 urban adults . Most are beginners - 59.3% started their wellness journey less than a year ago -and 91.8% say an important health need is still unmet . When choosing products, safe and trusted ingredients (22.7%) edge out proven results ( 21.5% ) and price ( 20.9% ).

04 · SKINCARE

Hide the logo and most Indian shoppers can't tell skincare brands apart

In a blind test with 265 skincare shoppers , the average person named fewer than two of five popular brands from their packs alone ( 1.8 of 5 ). Only The Derma Co (51%) and Minimalist (48%) were recognised by about half, even though all five packs scored the same on appeal. Routines also break after purchase: only 37.5% of 200 daily sunscreen users re-apply as recommended, and 64.5% dislike the white cast .

How we did the research

We asked 7,783 people across India who regularly buy these products through online surveys on the SuperJ app in 2026 . Each number comes from one survey, and we show how many people answered it. We also spoke to shoppers one-on-one to understand the "why". Surveys of 100 people are early signals, not final answers. Full report free at Hercules

https://hercules.works/ - Hercules is an Agentic Consumer Intelligence platform connected to 2 crore Verified Indian Consumers.

Full Report Link - https://hercules.works/send-me-report

Media Contact - Manasa Rajan | manasa@jupitermeta.io

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Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from PNN.