“Phlur is online only, and allows you to try its unisex fragrances at home so you can smell how they develop on your skin over the day. It claims to offer a product on par with the niche, high-end labels you find at upscale shops such as Barney’s New York—only much cheaper.” Read more at Quartz.
Read More“The beauty giant, which announced the news on Snapchat last week, invited followers to shop a slew of popular cosmetics featured in its latest story by taking a screenshot of desired items. As a growing number of retailers establish a strong presence on the photo-sharing app, finding new ways to fuel impulse purchases among younger fans and drive additional mobile commerce revenue will likely be top-reaching goals.” Read more at Luxury Daily.
Read More“To deliver their colorfully decorated packages, monthly subscription services must defy some of the fundamental rules of e-commerce. They must receive and store batches of entirely new products each month. When it’s time to ship, the products are lined up along conveyor belts so workers can arrange them in the exact same formation tens—or hundreds—of thousands of times during a frenzied week of packing.” Read more at The Wall Street Journal.
Read More“For 22 U.S-headquartered North American specialty apparel and beauty chains, the aggregate increase in brick and mortar sales was an anemic 3% since 2011, with sales per store declining by 5% over this period. Online sales for this group of retailers grew by 59% since 2011, reaching 17% of total company sales in 2015 versus 11.8% in 2011.” Read more at Retail Insider.
Read More“After slowly testing more interactive ads in recent months, Snapchat is open for ecommerce. Lancôme and Target started running shoppable ads today within Cosmopolitan's Discover channel—the hub of the app where media brands publish daily stories. Like Discover's other ads, Lancôme and Target's promos appear between Cosmo's articles and videos, each with a 10-second call-to-action instructing viewers to swipe up for more.” Read more at Adweek.
Read More“Finding the perfect makeup to match your skin tone is tricky to do in person. Online, it’s a gamble. Bobbi Brown launched its foundation shade finder tool on its website last year to target people who are in discovery mode, not just looking to restock. The tool combines digital and analog to help customers find the right shade for them.” Read more at Digiday.
Read More“Saks’ latest endeavor introduces a consumer offering that brings the retailer’s in-store experience directly to its online shoppers. Through the initiative, consumers can connect with Saks Associates around the clock, every day of the week, to reap the benefits of its personalized services. For the online service program, Saks teamed with retail technology firm Salesfloor.” Read more at Luxury Daily.
Read More“Time Inc. has plenty of beauty-related publications, and they’re now joining forces for a new beauty product recommendation site. Powder, which launched to the public on Tuesday, serves up recommendations for beauty products and articles based on reader-provided needs. Users are required to register in order to access the site.” Read more at Digiday.
Read More“Benefit Cosmetics’ quirky, feel-good tone has won it plenty of fans across social media. And now with a brand new responsive site redesign, its bevy of ‘benebabes’ can expect the same youthful irreverence across its digital properties. The LVMH-owned beauty brand this week unveiled new websites in the U.S., U.K., France and Germany, revamping its existing e-commerce offering. The brand hired Huge to help it boost sales on digital channels, and cater to its young, international, mobile-savvy audience.” Read more at Digiday.
Read More“E-commerce has always been problematic for beauty brands. Unlike other consumer-packaged goods, shoppers choose bricks-and-mortar to purchase products because they’re so personal. This means that consumers have only ever really used digital as a discount channel for repurchases, rather than a more lucrative discovery channel. This could be set to change, but before it can, brands need to break the tangibility barrier.” Read more at Retail Gazette.
Read More“Walmart helped launch actor Drew Barrymore’s retail career — but now the Hollywood star is getting ready to spread her wings. The 40-year-old founder and chief executive of Flower Beauty, a five-year old make-up venture whose products are sold exclusively by Walmart, is launching her own e-commerce web site this year and is in talks with retailers abroad about carrying her assortment of products. Barrymore’s line is marketed as luxury quality sold at inexpensive prices.” Read more at New York Post.
Read More“Ipsy is investing heavily into building up its already 10,000-person-strong network of amateur beauty vloggers. Together with Ipsy’s in-house stylists, they generate 300 million social media impressions a month for the company. Ipsy gets exposure (it has so far done very little paid advertising) and more views of its ad-embedded YouTube content.” Read more at Fast Company.
Read More“Brands should invest in their own sites as they attract shoppers from the top of the funnel, but not at the cost of neglecting their presence on online retailers. While brand sites allow more control over the shopping experience, 70% of consumers prefer to purchase from retailer sites.” Read more at L2.
Read More“Baskets of candy-colored ‘bath bombs,’ Lush Cosmetics’ signature product, make the store feel more like a confectionery than a skincare shop. For the beauty-obsessed, a visit can stir the same youthful excitement: Pots of body butters, balms and eccentrically shaped soaps are all available to smell and slather on. It’s tough to translate that sensory experience to the digital realm, though. And yet, while most of Lush’s revenue is still made in brick and mortar stores, Lush’s digital footprint has climbed since 2011.” Read more at Digiday.
Read More“‘We always bit off a lot,’ says Birchbox co-founder and CEO Katia Beauchamp, sitting in a conference room at the startup’s Manhattan headquarters with a fistful of eye and lip pencils spread within arm’s reach. These were the fruits of Birchbox’s latest self-assigned challenge: developing and selling its own color cosmetics. The goods, some of which are live on Birchbox’s site now, are branded under the name Love of Color.” Read more at Fashionista.com.
Read More“This September, Birchbox is 5 years old. And in the last 5 years, it’s grown exponentially: the company has raised over $70 million in funding, operates in six countries, has nearly 300 employees, over 800 brand partners, and nearly a million subscribers. Yet in Birchbox’s initial years, it wasn’t such a straight shot to success. A number of companies (i.e. Ipsy, Glossybox) emerged, offering similar beauty boxes in the mail — all with a similar selection of samples from top brands.” Read more at Forbes.
Read More“Move over Mary Kay. There’s a new and more hip, direct beauty seller in town. Model, talk show host and entrepreneur Tyra Banks is expanding a test of direct selling for Tyra Beauty. This week, Banks is opening up enrollment for what she calls ‘Beautytainers’ to sell the line of face, lip and eye products. This follows a successful beta test that started with 200 representatives in March and has swelled to more than 1,000 during the pre-launch period.” Read more at WWD.
Read More“Just over two years ago, an Australian e-commerce company called Frank Body developed an entire line of skincare products that include coffee as a primary ingredient. As buzz about the brand spread around the world through Instagram and Facebook, Americans began flocking to buy Frank Body scrubs and balms; today, the U.S. is Frank Body’s biggest market. The company says it is on track to make $21 million in sales this year, up from $2.8 million two years ago.” Read more at Fast Company.
Read More“It’s been a little over two years since Net-a-Porter got into the competitive beauty business, selling a mix of well-known and niche products online. Now, its discount fashion offshoot The Outnet is getting into the category as well. While it won’t be selling discounted skincare and makeup per se, there will be deals for those willing to buy multiple products at once.” Read more at Fashionista.
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