Beauty E-commerce

The beauty industry has taken on new trends and technologies alongside evolving demographics and emerging business strategies. Beauty online shops have become mainstream among major beauty brands and new players alike, and with good reason. E-commerce has significantly improved growth rates and profits for beauty companies, thanks to increased target market reach, consumer awareness, and purchasing convenience and accessibility.

Top Beauty eCommerce Trends for 2019

Beauty industry players have incorporated new emergent technologies into their business strategies and have given rise to an exciting trend over the years. The beauty eCommerce industry is dynamic, competitive, and fast-changing with competitive suppliers like Asian Beauty Wholesale in the frontlines.

However, here are some trends you can utilize and look out for this year.

1. Solid social media presence

Major businesses personalize their brand by making consumers feel like an integral part of it. Regularly posting updates about new products, beauty tips, and how-tos, offering promotions and discounts, and responding to queries and comments are important strategies in making your brand feel more integrated to everyday consumer’s lives.

On the other hand, newbies and start-up companies can compete with major established brands by effectively utilizing social media. By providing products that target specific niches, having a dedicated post-sales and customer support, and immediately responding to customer’s needs, comments, and queries, small business companies can create product awareness and build a consistent client base.

2. Omnichannel personalization

Omnichannel personalization means using various technological means to interact with customers and making one’s brand known to the market as much as possible.

Apart from using traditional means of advertising such as print ads, radio, and television commercials, companies can increase product awareness through newer means such as social media and online advertising.

Omnichannel personalization may also be applied in other ways, such as installing virtual reality to in-store locations to enhance the client’s product experience. L’Oreal’s Beauty Lab allows customers to virtually try on makeup shades while browsing through products on the aisles. Augmented reality is also utilized by brands like Sephora, whose proprietary Color IQ allows users to use their app to find the right foundation shade for them.

3. Convenient purchasing and delivery systems

Making it easy for customers to purchase items and efficient delivery are keys to a thriving online business. Faster payment/checkout options and dropshipping help reduce the additional time and costs consumers spend on shopping and helps keep customer satisfaction and loyalty.

The Baymard Institute reports that 70% of customers cancel purchases due to complicated checkout procedures. Thus, making payment and checkout processes easy is paramount. Designing user-friendly checkout forms with multiple or unified payment options like Paypal, Payoneer, credit/debit, cryptocurrency will facilitate a smoother online shopping experience that guarantees sales.

Some social media platforms like Facebook and Snapchat have built-in purchasing options, where customers can directly purchase products as soon as they see it on social media. Make use of these features by enabling them on your business social media pages.

Efficient delivery systems like multiple shipping options and reliable tracking boost customer trust. New systems like dropshipping help reduce shipping costs by cutting out middlemen via direct delivery from the manufacturer to the customer. Online retailers like Amazon has also used drones to deliver lightweight goods.

4. Building brand identity

Today’s well-informed consumers, mostly tech-savvy millennials who like posting purchased items on their social media accounts, do not simply buy products out of sheer necessity, convenience, and purchasing power. Nowadays, customers also consider a brand’s social impact, environmental commitment such as carbon footprint, health and safety, and how it fits and/or reflects their lifestyle.

Thanks to the Internet, buyers can now easily research the toxicity levels of a product’s ingredients, where they’re sourced from, the labor conditions of a company’s employees, a company’s carbon footprint, and read through product reviews before completing a purchase.

Adding insignias and logos and beautiful packaging help consumers easily identify and build a sense of rapport with a beauty brand. For example, Victoria’s Secret visibly embellish their logo on their products, and it’s easy to identify their products because of their branding strategy. Organizing a yearly Victoria’s Secret fashion show and maintaining a set of contract models to endorse for the brand helps gain customer engagement and loyalty, which translates to a solid client base and social momentum for potential customers.

Final Thoughts

Being updated with emerging beauty trends and eCommerce strategies is crucial in keeping up with the fast-paced online beauty industry. By gaining awareness of important trends and implementing them right, it is easy to reach your target market and boost business growth.