New details provided by L'Oréal SA reveal the unforeseen extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the beauty industry's efforts to sell lipstick, make-up and skin care products to consumers through online channels instead of old-fashioned brick-and-mortar stores.

In a call with analysts following the publication of its first-half results for 2020, the French company's executives noted that e-commerce sales had surged 65% in the six months ending June 30. In the last 10 weeks alone, online sales matched the accomplishments reported in the previous three or four years, and now contribute a quarter of L'Oréal's overall revenue. While e-commerce sales rose a respectable 54% in first quarter, when the pandemic's effects first started to be felt, that figure accelerated to 63% in April, 75% in May and 82% in June.

"E-commerce is the new name of the game," said Chairman and CEO Jean-Paul Agon. "We have seen a fantastic acceleration... with millions of consumers, or tens of millions or hundreds of millions of consumers discovering this channel for the first time. And e-commerce remains strong, even when brick-and-mortar stores re-open."

In the analyst call, the company said 30% of its U.K. sales now occur online, compared to 23% in the U.S., 40% in Korea and 25% in Japan. Such trends seen in markets across the world constitute a "tipping point" for the big-brand beauty industry, according to Agon. The company's businesses include Lancôme, Maybelline and Kiehl's.

Most beauty product sales occur at physical outlets because customers want the in-person experience of trying on make-up, testing varying shades of lipstick, experimenting with alternative skin care creams or seeking the advice of experts at beauty counters. According to Euromonitor, store-based sales of beauty and personal care products made up 80% of overall sales in 2018.

But the e-commerce beauty and personal care segment has grown the fastest of all channels globally and continues to gain share from the brick-and-mortar segment. In 2018, the e-commerce portion was a $47.1 billion industry, representing 11% of all beauty and personal care sales.

COVID-19 has accelerated that process as lockdowns forced millions of consumers to buy beauty products online, many for the first time. That coincides with companies' efforts to roll out an array of technological innovations as they battle for market share in e-commerce.

L'Oréal, for example, plans to soon launch Perso, an artificial intelligence-based device that links to a cellphone and customizes skin care products based on factors such as a user's skin condition and the weather. Another is ModiFace, an app-based augmented reality system that allows a customer to virtually try on makeup, hair color, skin care or get a skin care diagnosis.

L'Oréal acquired ModiFace in 2018 and since then it has been expanded to all of its divisions and brands. It has also been progressively offered to L'Oréal's e-commerce partners, including Sephora.com, Macys.com, Boots.com and Amazon, whose ramped-up sales of L'Oreal products was a big factor in the online surge. "Contrary to what people think, e-commerce favors big brands and hero products," said Agon.

Of course, L'Oréal isn't the only beauty company to benefit from the switch to online purchases. On April 7, research firm NPD Group noted that in the U.S., "in terms of dollar share, online typically accounts for around 20% of total prestige beauty industry sales; however, in the latest week, online sales grew by 47% and captured close to 90% of total industry spend. With physical stores temporarily closed, online represents nearly all of the industry volume today."

A major L'Oréal rival to benefit from the shift is The Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. In reporting fiscal third-quarter results on May 1, the U.S. company noted that its global online sales had grown in the "strong double-digits" range. Investors will learn about the company's more recent progress in e-commerce on Aug. 20, when Estée Lauder reports fiscal fourth-quarter results.