In a world that is increasingly digital, Beauty E-commerce is gaining momentum. Consumers are savvy when it comes to omnichannel and e-commerce. As a result, brands are leveraging a variety of tools to maximize sales and reach their target audiences. This includes using social media content and partnering with beauty vloggers and bloggers to provide positive reviews and tutorials. By using social channels like Facebook and Instagram, Beauty E-commerce can guide customers to buy products online, provide a discount code, and leverage social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram.
Consumers are savvy about omnichannel
Today’s consumers are more willing than ever to shop for beauty and health products across multiple channels, including online. They seek the best possible experience, as well as the best bang for their buck. That’s why consumers are increasingly seeking rewards and loyalty programs from omnichannel retailers. In fact, 76% of consumers say they would pay extra for premium loyalty programs, and 40% of these consumers expect the rewards to be immediate. Meanwhile, policy abuse is growing, costing U.S. retailers between $100 million and $89 billion annually.
Although the beauty industry has largely been dominated by big-name brands and brick-and-mortar retail, many consumers still prefer the convenience of e-commerce. According to a recent Opinium Retail Tracker survey, 50% of British consumers prefer buying beauty products in a brick-and-mortar store to buying them online. However, despite these growing numbers, physical stores continue to increase in popularity.
Retailers are savvy about e-commerce
Mass retailers such as Target and Walmart own a large percentage of the retail beauty market. Both are committed to improving the online buying experience and advancing fulfillment options. Click and collect and other innovations are helping mass retailers gain share in this category. However, despite these trends, beauty and personal care still face stiff competition from startups and digitally native companies. According to Nielsen, the top 20 brands capture 90% of the retail beauty market, compared to only 14% online.
The beauty market is a highly repeatable market. Beauty-related purchases are relatively small-ticket items. Most buyers are loyal to a single brand and will purchase from them again if the product is as good as advertised. As such, repeat purchases are crucial for retailers. In addition to delivering great products, retailers can offer low-cost shipping and easy returns. However, consumers are hesitant to return products if they receive an e-mail that’s too generic.
Indies are savvy about e-commerce
The indie beauty sector is savvy about e-commerce, leveraging new social media marketing tactics and unconventional sales models. Most of the indie brands have embraced a mobile-first strategy, and have 100% mobile-optimized websites, as opposed to 93% of the big brands. For those who don’t have smartphones, this may be a good time to learn about mobile-optimised websites.
As the younger generation becomes more familiar with the internet, they’re willing to experiment with new products without the need to travel to a specialty store. And because indie brands don’t have the resources to test and trial products, their sales aren’t slipping. But there are some key differences. Indie beauty brands use the internet to optimise discoverability and create products that rank high in search results. For example, 40% of hair care searches on Google specify a brand, gender, and ethnicity. In addition, consumers are looking up ingredients, including tea tree and coconut milk. Herbal Essences, for example, has the highest number of hair care product searches each month.
Whether you’re launching a brand on Amazon or a traditional retail site, it’s important to be as transparent as possible. A beauty brand’s success will greatly depend on its e-commerce strategy. Amazon’s low-cost platform, combined with the ability to test and optimize products, make it easy for indie beauty brands to succeed. The indie beauty market is growing so rapidly that a whole expo is dedicated to it.
Amazon is a leader in beauty e-commerce
Amazon has embraced the beauty market with open arms in October 2013. Its gated product feature prevents unauthorized third-party sales and has become a critical factor for luxury brands looking to increase their sales. The gated system does not, however, completely eliminate the possibility of grey-market sellers and knock-offs, so brands should be on the lookout. However, the benefits of working with Amazon are worth considering.
First of all, the beauty category is profitable. The margins for beauty products are significantly higher than other product categories. Beauty products also have higher prices. As such, Amazon makes a great profit in this category. In addition, many beauty products have a longer shelf-life, making them an excellent investment for the brand. The benefits of beauty e-commerce are numerous and Amazon is well-positioned to capitalize on this opportunity.