Over the last several years, the beauty retailing environment has experienced a revolutionary transformation, with the rise of new technology, innovation, and more knowledgeable and savvy omni-channel consumers.
No longer are consumers drawn to retail stores with knowledgeable salespeople, sample products, and promotions, as these benefits can all be enjoyed from home—either through e-commerce, or television. Convenience becomes the most important attribute in beauty retailing as growth of e-commerce continues to outshine any other beauty retail venue, increasing nearly 20% in 2014. Television shopping also continues to grow well above the industry average, at approximately 10% in 2014.
The interaction between the retailer and shopper begins more often with a mobile device as shoppers browse and research products and prices and check for promotional offers. Moreover, consumers make easy purchases at any time, anywhere. Retailers gear up for consumers’ growing needs, offering virtual interaction with consumers in an effort to mimic the experience they receive in physical retail stores, allowing two-way communication and augmented virtual reality. Home shopping networks, which showcase selectively chosen brands, allow the channel to tell a more in-depth story than can be told from behind the counter in physical stores. Entertainment, value propositions, and deferred payment options make television the purchasing channel of choice for consumers and marketers alike.
In terms of product categories sold, skin care continues to be the largest sales driver through the Internet and television home shopping arenas. Makeup is one of the fastest growing product categories on the Internet due to beauty vloggers, reviews, virtual experiences, and tutorials, which initially drive consumers to makeup websites and lead to sales. Additionally, the power of demonstration is extremely important in a channel such as television shopping, where significant growth has been seen in hair care products.
Continually working to balance a brand’s marketing mix in a variety of channels is the key to success for a beauty brand today.
Beauty Retailing through the Television Home Shopping Channel: Analysis and Opportunities and Beauty Retailing through the Internet Channel: Analysis and Opportunities are two new reports from our comprehensive analysis of Beauty Retailing USA: Channel Analysis and Opportunities. These two reports each analyze why alternate channels, such as the Internet and television home shopping, are so important to beauty marketers, the leading players in the market, and which product categories perform especially well in the channels.
Written by Naira Aslanian, Project Manager at Kline
