The beauty eCommerce industry has always been open to newest innovations and reinventions, and this is not ending anytime soon. From clean beauty and hyper-personalised skin products to AI cosmetics solutions, every beauty retailer today is looking for ways to enhance their customer experience and stay above their competitors. To survive in this ever-changing competitive world, note the eCommerce trends listed below that will continue to dominate the beauty industry in 2022. The Common Thread Co stated that the beauty and personal care market grew from $483 billion in 2020 to $511 billion in 2021, and this industry is forecast to exceed $716B by 2025. Key trends and growth strategies to gain an edge in beauty eCommerce. 1. Diversity and Inclusivity Today’s consumers look for value-driven products that reflect their personalities and lifestyles. Undoubtedly, diversity has always been an issue in the personal care and cosmetics industries. From advertisements that spread unrealistic beauty standards to products suiting only certain limited skin types, today’s consumers are making clear that such exclusivity will no longer be accepted. 2. VR and AR The new technology in the beauty industry is coming on leaps and bounds, immersing AI, AR, and VR into top popular household brands like MAC, Maybelline, and L’Oreal. Buying cosmetics online has always been a difficult challenge as general consumers prefer trying hair and skin care products in physical stores. This is the core reason why the beauty industry became one of the earliest adopters of Virtual and Augmented Reality technology that assists online customers in ‘trying’ products during their shopping journey. In short, AR and VR technologies are helping beauty eCommerce retailers to bridge the ‘experience gap’ between online and offline shopping. 61% say they prefer to shop from brands offering AR experiences. 3. Hyper-Personalisation Personalisation has become increasingly important for a number of reasons, mainly as it gives consumers a feeling that the received messages are tailored specifically for them. It helps to create a sense of loyalty and connection between a consumer and a brand. Consumers who feel the brand knows them and their preferences will like to continue doing business with it. 56% of online shoppers claimed to return to an online store providing personalised recommendations in 2020, and as per a SmarterHQ survey, 80% of shoppers admitted to only shopping with brands giving personalised experiences. Beauty brands can boost engagement, increase conversion, and enhance brand loyalty rates by identifying and personalising each touchpoint in a customer’s journey. 4. Beauty subscription services are growing According to Royal Mail’s UK Subscription Box Market report, the subscription box market is estimated to reach £1.8 billion by 2025 in the UK alone. In the beauty eCommerce industry, retailers like Birchbox and Glossybox have displayed how successful the subscription box model has been from them. As per a survey, subscriptions that provided new and innovative items or highly personalised experiences – received 55% of total subscriptions. The subscription boxes trend has been seeing the strongest growth in the beauty subscription space for several years now. As per a survey, beauty subscription brands showed a 20% increase in average order value (AOV) in 2020. 5. Natural, clean, and transparent beauty Consumers seek for brands that are transparent in their ingredient list and natural in their products. More and more brands are beginning with minimum and transparent approaches as the millennial consumers pay hawk-eyed attention to the ingredients list on the product packet. As such, sales of beauty cosmetics products that are free from parabens and are natural, are showing five times more growth than those who still not reached the paraben-free specification. 6. Influencer marketing From past few years, Influencer marketing has been popular part of beauty eCommerce strategies, and it’s here to stay. As per the British Beauty Council’s 2020 Value of Beauty report, for every $1 spent on influencer marketing, a return of investment of $11.45 has observed. With the growing rise of influencers and micro-influencers, the beauty eCommerce industry and its advertising have found a great return on investment. Social media marketing too, with or without influencers has proved to be one of the best working trends for beauty brands looking to connect with their target audience. 8. Brand partnerships Market analysis by Ad News discovered that brand collaborations in any industry, was up to 30 times cheaper than digital advertising mainly because of its ability to connect with already existing audiences. Whenever a unique makeup collaboration is released with social media posts and reviews, it converts excitement to product sales by generating a large demand within the beauty industry. Few of the successful brand partnerships include Coca Cola with eyeshadow giant, Morphe, MAC announced a collaboration with a popular Chinese online multiplayer game, Honour of Kings, and with K-Beauty label Innisfree. Also, co-branding with influencers is the latest effective way of combining two sets of audiences and generating excitement, following good sales. 9. Artificial intelligence for product discovery Beauty brands are increasingly using artificial intelligence AI for hyper-personalise experience for their consumer’s shopping online. Most retail beauty brands use AI in their manufacturing process too, to create cosmetic products that match their consumers’ skin tones. Tips on how to optimise your online beauty eCommerce website To continuously increase your online sales, read on the tips and trends follow for your online beauty store. 1. Understand and address your customers’ concerns and objections 2. Survey your Existing and on-site Customers and talk to them. 3. Offer a subscription option 4. The outcome of the product must be what the customer cares about. Make sure the outcome is highlighted 5. Create product bundles to increase Average Order Value 6. Reduce decision fatigue Beauty eCommerce Growth Strategies Wondering how these major brands made it? Here are some of the strategies they used. 1. SEM 2. SEO 3. Influencer marketing 4. YouTube 5. Social Media 5. VR & virtual stores The bottom line The beauty and skincare products are today one of the fastest growing in eCommerce industry. Even though it is a hyper-competitive industry, brands can still compete to showcase their differences and unique traits to attract and keep customers, if and only if you’re optimising your online store for conversions, continuously A/B testing your changes, knowing your competitors’ traits, and finally keeping the consumer on top of your priority list. The rise of social commerce and a more socially-engaged customer journey across digital channels for beauty products streamlines an immersive experience and an omnichannel marketing at every touchpoint that will foster stronger levels of brand loyalty. Reference: 10 standout health & beauty ecommerce stores [examples]. The BigCommerce Blog. (2022, February 10). Retrieved September 30, 2022, from https://www.bigcommerce.co.uk/blog/health-beauty-ecommerce-design/ 5 ways to optimize your beauty Ecommerce website for more sales. Conversion Optimization & Landing Page Design Agency for Ecommerce. (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2022, from https://splitbase.com/blog/beauty-ecommerce-optimization From, R. Y. (2022, August 21). 2022 beauty Ecommerce Trends & Growth Strategies & Brands to follow [examples]: Mayple. RSS. Retrieved September 30, 2022, from https://www.mayple.com/blog/beauty-ecommerce GET IN TOUCH: Name * Company * Phone Email * Subject Message *
