Having a closer look at the beauty industry it leaves an impression of impressive growth. Just how big is the beauty industry? It was worth $483B in 2020, $511B in 2021 and it had an annual growth rate of 4.75% worldwide. The predictions are it is going to reach $716B by 2025. What has caused such a massive growth and why are there so many people relaying on a bright future for the beauty industry? One of the factors might be the expansion of the digital channels through which it has been presented as well as the increase in customers who are willing to pay higher prices in order to receive a product with a higher quality. The growth of the beauty industry has brought the need of beauty specialist retailers or BSR’s. The role of the beauty specialist retailers is to offer beauty products from third party brands in a medium to high price range. In doing so, some beauty specialist retailers have started their own branded products which they are not producing but just distributing them as their own labels with a much lower price. The essential beauty products are mostly cosmetics, skin-care and fragrances and they can be bought in a bulk like for example bulk makeup. One such platform that successfully connects both worlds in this supply chain network is https://www.beautysourcing.com/
Through a study done with the brands Sephora and Douglas about the changes the current trends impose on the beauty specialist retailers we can observe the steps they are undertaking in order to position themselves better on the beauty market. What has been a trend lately is the effort the beauty specialist retailers make to be present in both classical brick-and-mortar stores as well as to increase their online presence.
The brick and mortar stores are being refurbished and made to look appealing with window displays to spark imagination and creativity with the customer. In order to engage with their customers, the stores are offering variety of interactive events and beauty treatments.
In order to achieve this omni-presence it is very important to combine the pre-established store-based platforms with the online platforms (the mobile and social media presence).
It is essential that these digital tools are a part of the store platform as well so for example using hotspots and beacons. Beacons are Bluetooth-based hardware transmitters and they are gaining a lot of attention nowadays. They communicate with mobile devices via applications and the brick and mortar stores which have them are able to communicate with their consumers by sending them notifications about new offers and promotions. Buying bulk makeup online has never been easier. The beauty retailers are investing in innovation and are constantly introducing new tools on the digital platforms. However, a vast majority of the consumers still prefer buying in the physical stores. They prefer to try on the products of their interest, find the perfect colour match to their skin tone and compare textures. Because of the fact that customers are currently most likely to buy only products that they already know of on the internet, the BSRs are introducing augmented and virtual reality AR and VR to their online platforms. Another aspect added to this are the presence of influencers. They play a very important role in marketing the products via social media channels but in order to achieve the omni-presence impact, they are combining the online with an instore experience. They do this by organizing live influencer events at the brick and mortar store.
Another trend which has been in the beauty market for a while now is the customer’s demand for natural, organic, cruelty-free, vegan, eco-friendly and sustainable beauty products. The beauty customer’s perspectives and needs are changing. They are becoming more aware about their health and the environment. The stress is mentioned as one of the main drivers in this trend. Consumers are looking for beauty products that will promote calming effect on their body and mind. All of this cause a significant demand for these products. It is assumed that the certified natural and organic products are going to have an annual increase of ~12% from 2018 to 2024. Retailers are coping with these demands by identifying and partnering with the newcomers in the beauty market who are promoting the ‘’clean beauty’’ trend as well as with the well-known brands.
