--- title: "Chemist Warehouse vs Hikoco: Which is searched more in New Zealand?" description: "Is Chemist Warehouse or Hikoco more popular in search? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Beauty retailers set in New Zealand. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time." canonical: "https://gobrandwave.com/demand/nz/compare/chemist-warehouse-nz-vs-hikoco" publisher: "Brandwave" --- # Chemist Warehouse vs Hikoco: Which is searched more in New Zealand? Is Chemist Warehouse or Hikoco more popular in search? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Beauty retailers set in New Zealand. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time. ## Key facts - **Compared**: Chemist Warehouse and Hikoco - **Competitive set**: Beauty retailers - **Market**: New Zealand - **Month measured**: Sep 2026 - **Chemist Warehouse Share of Search**: 80% - **Hikoco Share of Search**: 6% ## Is Chemist Warehouse or Hikoco more popular in search? - In September 2026, Chemist Warehouse had more branded searches than Hikoco among beauty retailers in New Zealand. Chemist Warehouse had about 702,000 branded searches, while Hikoco had 52,800. Chemist Warehouse made up 80% of all beauty retailer searches we track, and Hikoco accounted for 6%. - Chemist Warehouse was ahead of Hikoco in every measured month of the 12 months ending September 2026. - Across the 12 months ending September 2026, Chemist Warehouse’s share of searches among beauty retailers in New Zealand moved from 81% to 80%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 783K to 702K. - Across the 12 months ending September 2026, Hikoco’s share of searches among beauty retailers in New Zealand moved from 5.6% to 6%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 54.2K to 52.8K. ## Top beauty retailers in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews In three ChatGPT questions and one Google AI Overview, Chemist Warehouse was mentioned in three out of four: in two of the three ChatGPT answers and in the Google AI Overview. Hikoco was mentioned in two out of four: in one of the three ChatGPT answers and in the Google AI Overview. Chemist Warehouse was listed before Hikoco in two out of three answers. Brands get a higher AI rank if they are mentioned earlier in the answers that list options. | Brand | AI rank | ChatGPT answers that named it | Google AI Overviews that named it | All answers that named it | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | MECCA | 1st | 3 of 3 | 1 of 1 | 4 of 4 | | Sephora | 2nd | 2 of 3 | 1 of 1 | 3 of 4 | | Chemist Warehouse | 3rd | 2 of 3 | 1 of 1 | 3 of 4 | | Hikoco | 4th | 1 of 3 | 1 of 1 | 2 of 4 | | Adore Beauty | 4th | 1 of 3 | 0 of 1 | 1 of 4 | | Stylevana | Not ranked | 0 of 3 | 0 of 1 | 0 of 4 | | YesStyle | Not ranked | 0 of 3 | 0 of 1 | 0 of 4 | | Beauty Bliss | Not ranked | 0 of 3 | 0 of 1 | 0 of 4 | | Cult Beauty | Not ranked | 0 of 3 | 0 of 1 | 0 of 4 | | Lookfantastic | Not ranked | 0 of 3 | 0 of 1 | 0 of 4 | ## Every AI answer about beauty retailers - Asked ChatGPT "Which beauty retailer should I shop at in New Zealand?": 1. MECCA, 2. Chemist Warehouse, 3. Adore Beauty - Asked ChatGPT "What are the best beauty retailers in New Zealand?": 1. MECCA, 2. Sephora, 3. Chemist Warehouse - Asked ChatGPT "What's the best beauty retailer in New Zealand for skin care and makeup?": 1. MECCA, 2. Sephora, 3. Hikoco - Searched Google, AI Overview "best beauty stores": 1. MECCA, 2. Sephora, 3. Hikoco, 4. Chemist Warehouse Not named in any answer: Stylevana, YesStyle, Beauty Bliss, Cult Beauty and Lookfantastic. Brands are listed in the order each answer named them. The answers were collected in New Zealand on October 19, 2026. ## How did search popularity change for New Zealand beauty retailers in September 2026? - In September 2026, Chemist Warehouse gained share of searches among beauty retailers in New Zealand, from 79.4% to 80%. ## Month by month | Month | Chemist Warehouse estimated searches | Chemist Warehouse Share of Search | Chemist Warehouse rank | Hikoco estimated searches | Hikoco Share of Search | Hikoco rank | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Oct 2025 | 783K | 81% | 1 | 54.2K | 5.6% | 3 | | Nov 2025 | 954K | 79.3% | 1 | 65.1K | 5.4% | 3 | | Dec 2025 | 807K | 75.8% | 1 | 56.1K | 5.3% | 3 | | Jan 2026 | 678K | 80% | 1 | 47.7K | 5.6% | 3 | | Feb 2026 | 658K | 78.2% | 1 | 46.9K | 5.6% | 3 | | Mar 2026 | 678K | 80.5% | 1 | 54.2K | 6.4% | 3 | | Apr 2026 | 680K | 78.5% | 1 | 63.3K | 7.3% | 3 | | May 2026 | 679K | 80.5% | 1 | 54.3K | 6.4% | 3 | | Jun 2026 | 677K | 80.9% | 1 | 51.7K | 6.2% | 3 | | Jul 2026 | 677K | 79.1% | 1 | 54.3K | 6.3% | 3 | | Aug 2026 | 676K | 79.4% | 1 | 51.7K | 6.1% | 3 | | Sep 2026 | 702K | 80% | 1 | 52.8K | 6% | 3 | ## How each brand is measured Brandwave collects information about searches that people make online using Chemist Warehouse’s and Hikoco’s names. When viewed over time, estimated search volumes for these branded terms can be used to understand whether interest in the brands is growing, holding steady, or fading. - **Chemist Warehouse**: Measured on the search terms “Chemist Warehouse”, “chemist warehouse hours”, “chemist warehouse lynnmall”, “chemist warehouse nz”, “chemist warehouse westgate” and “the chemist warehouse”, summed into one figure. - **Hikoco**: Measured on the search terms “hikoco”, “hikoco newmarket”, “hikoco queen street”, “hikoco skincare” and “hikoco sylvia park”, summed into one figure. - [Chemist Warehouse profile](/demand/nz/brands/chemist-warehouse-nz) - [Hikoco profile](/demand/nz/brands/hikoco) - [All beauty retailers in New Zealand](/demand/nz/categories/nz-beauty-retailers): The set both shares are measured inside, 10 brands. ## Methodology - [How is the Brand Demand Index measured?](/demand/methodology): Where the figures come from, what they compare, and how they may be reused. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is Chemist Warehouse or Hikoco more popular in search? In September 2026, Chemist Warehouse had more branded searches than Hikoco among beauty retailers in New Zealand. Chemist Warehouse had about 702,000 branded searches, while Hikoco had 52,800. Chemist Warehouse made up 80% of all beauty retailer searches we track, and Hikoco accounted for 6%. ## Cite this page Brandwave. "Chemist Warehouse vs Hikoco: Which is searched more in New Zealand?". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/nz/compare/chemist-warehouse-nz-vs-hikoco This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/nz/compare/chemist-warehouse-nz-vs-hikoco. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.