Beauty has never been bigger. Celebrities and influencers from skincare YouTuber Hyram to worldwide pop sensation Rihanna are heading major brands in the $570B industry. TikTok has made beauty trends and routines more visible, and much more varied– every niche aesthetic has a core group of products associated with it, from “clean girl” to “coquette.” The beauty industry has been rock solid even through economic turmoil, which proves its power in the marketplace.
All the while, today’s consumers want a hyper-personalized omnichannel customer experience, inclusivity in product and marketing, and environmentally conscious brands that also use the latest technology to create a seamless digital and in-person shopping experience. Consumers also want beauty products that come highly recommended by word-of-mouth, which is one of the biggest marketing tools in the industry.
Sounds like a mouthful, but it makes sense. Beauty has always been personal, each product a reflection of one’s own values and personhood. What has been chided as a shallow industry is actually incredibly deep and nuanced, and therefore consumer expectations are incredibly high.
In a saturated market, many beauty brands that do not differentiate themselves from their competition will fall away. For that reason, the most successful brands are also the most innovative in their omnichannel strategies.
It’s not just cute packaging and lipstick shades. The beauty industry is changing the game in customer experience. So who stands out in such a crowded market? And what can we learn from their omnichannel strategies?
Friendly, hands-on brick and mortar experience
Tech innovations that focus on creating an ethical digital footprint
Strong ethical messaging and brand promise
Going to the mall has always been an olfactory experience. Auntie Anne’s pretzels, Bath & Body Works on sale days, Hollister– it seemed as if trademarking scent was one of the biggest retail strategies to engage mall goers throughout the aughts and 2010s.
If you, like me, spent your teenage years milling about the local mall, then you have definitely smelled LUSH even if you haven’t heard of it.
Since LUSH was founded in 1995, it has consistently created high quality skin, body, and hair products that use fresh ingredients, from papaya to beeswax to blueberries. For consumers concerned about sustainability and ethical consumption, LUSH provides an alternative to many major cosmetic brands. With 85% of their products being vegan, 100% being vegetarian, and strict policies against animal testing and excessive waste, LUSH has been a frontrunner in sustainable, clean beauty since its origin.
With such strong and consistent ethical messaging in a changing climate, LUSH has created a loyal young customer base, with most consumers falling in the 16-24 age range.
So how has LUSH leveraged customer experience strategy to create a consistent brand that has outlived most of its consumers?
LUSH, remarkably, does not pay a cent in advertising, instead focusing their marketing through user-generated content and relying on word-of-mouth and the strength of their in-person sales teams.
LUSH’s in-store staff are the real bread and butter of their CX strategy. These beauty agents encourage shoppers to touch, smell, and try every product in the store, creating a multi sensorial experience. LUSH staff are generous with samples, and recommend specific products based on each shopper’s needs. LUSH staff also do hands-on demos and try-ons, which adds to the retail experience. Even when I do not leave LUSH with a purchased product, I always leave with at least three sample pots picked out by a knowledgeable beauty agent.
This experience is a result of dedicated training– LUSH staff are trained to offer different customer experiences depending on how shoppers seem to want to shop. For example, if someone does not want to talk to an agent, there is a playbook for how the agent might still be generous with the shopper. LUSH staff create a unique, personalized, generous, and differentiated customer experience for every single shopper. It’s not wonder they have been so successful as a front-facing retail brand.
In recent years, LUSH has been committed to using the latest technology in a way that aligns with their brand ethics and mission. With the introduction of their company-patented till system, revenue increased by around 40%. This updated till system bypassed vendors and allowed store staff to carry the cash register with them while attending to each shopper.
The American mall, however, is dying out with the rise of the digital marketplace. While the brick-and-mortar experience is one-of-a-kind, LUSH continues to look for ways to leverage the latest technology to create the same experience online. LUSH has been experimenting with ways to align the LUSH app with the in-store experience, including a smart tool for finding products online based on a photo scan.
All in all, LUSH has lasted the test of time with its consistent brand imagery and dedicated customer experience strategy, which earns it an honorable third place in the CX beauty contest.
Seamless transition between digital and in-store experience
AI and VR innovations create a personalized beauty experience
Gamification rewards loyalty and keeps customers coming back
Any VIB (very important beauty insider) knows how easy it is to pop into Sephora, virtually or in-person, and drop at least a small fortune on skincare or lip gloss. Knowing how to capitalize on the psychology of the impulse buy, Sephora has become one of the most successful beauty empires in the world, selling direct-to-consumer products from over 300 beauty brands.
What most people do not know is how long Sephora has been dominating the beauty industry. The first Sephora store opened in France in the 1970s, and has since been expanding and innovating all due to their brilliant omnichannel strategy.
What sets Sephora apart from other beauty retailers is the advanced omnichannel customer experience. In person, shoppers are welcome to try on beauty products, spritz fragrances, and even get full makeovers from experienced beauty professionals. If you grew up a mall goer, you most definitely have applied a full face of makeup using Sephora’s massive collection of product samples– it’s a right of passage.
Why so many samples? Because Sephora has long understood how personal beauty really is. Every skin tone, every eye color, and every personality will look different in every product. Therefore, “try before you buy” is a necessity to get consumers on board. Additionally, Sephora staff offer makeovers and product recommendations, capitalizing on the “word of mouth” spread of beauty knowledge.
Beyond the brick and mortar experience, though, Sephora has been utilizing AI and VR technology to create a “try before you buy” experience for digital consumers. With a product like Sephora Virtual Artist, consumers can try on products using a selfie. Digital face-mapping will apply the product to the consumer’s features. Customers can also take interactive quizzes to find the best beauty products for them, or join the “Beauty Insider Community” which features discussion boards where shoppers can chat with other customers about product recommendations. Sephora’s app and in-store experience creates a seamless flow where customers do not experience disconnect at any point.
Perhaps the stickiest customer experience strategy in Sephora’s arsenal is its rewards and loyalty program, which is first of its kind in the beauty industry. Sephora offers tiers of rewards memberships, and rewards consumers who spend the most with discounts, special sales, and a rewards bazaar where you can trade points for free products. Sephora has mastered the psychology of the loyalty program, which is built on the power of habit and the goal gradient effect, which implies that the closer one is to reaching a goal, the harder they will work to achieve said goal.
When you compare a major retailer like Sephora with a retailer like Amazon, you can start to see how effectively Sephora has structured its customer experience and customer journey. With Amazon, there are so many retailers and not much of a clear journey to each particular product. Say you are looking for a three-seat couch. You might be offered thirty pages of the same couch from different brands, and all you can really go on is the reviews and your own intuition. Amazon is incredibly successful, but with beauty, no one wants to take a chance on an unknown skincare product. With Sephora, there are over 300 brands available, and yet the customer experience is designed to quickly lead a consumer to the product that is best for them. This happens through the hands-on brick and mortar experience, word of mouth recommendations from beauty staff and other consumers, and an advanced and seamless shopping experience on Sephora’s app or website.
If you are like me and nearly always have a Sephora shipment coming in the mail, then you know how powerful and seamless their customer journey is. This is why the major retailer earns the runner-up position for best omnichannel CX in the beauty industry.
The makeup graveyard. That is what I like to call the drawer of no return, the drawer with years-old eyeliners and lipsticks that collect dust deep inside my bathroom shelves. In 2012, YouTuber Jenna Marbles coined the term “goo hoarding,” which alludes to the half-finished hair gels, serums, and concealers that sit idle in the bathrooms of every person who wears makeup.
The makeup graveyard, however, is not just an individual quirk. It is actually a result of an extremely oversaturated market.
The beauty industry is chalk full of brands that know the best way to build a customer base is to get samples out as quickly as possible, a strategy known as “sampling.” Beauty subscription services like Birchbox and Ipsy send out monthly sample boxes of mostly new beauty brands, and major beauty retailers offer sample packets of various products for each purchase. While this may seem like a heavensend for makeup-lovers, it can get cluttered real fast. Sometimes, the lipstick is not the right shade, or the eyeshadow has too much fallout, and after one use it gets tossed in the medicine cabinet never to be seen again.
Glossier, a digitally-native beauty brand founded in 2014 by CEO Emily Weiss, opened its digital doors with the goal of never, ever seeing one of its products in the makeup graveyard, and this goal has succeeded due to Glossier’s world-class omnichannel strategy efforts.
While many beauty brands become recognized and build their consumer base through major retailers like Sephora and Ulta, Glossier launched its products through its own website and marketing campaign. This could prove deadly to many brands, but Glossier’s, well, glossy brand image and knowledge of their target demographic created a beauty craze that captured the nation’s attention.
Glossier’s omnichannel strategy is tied up in its retail and marketing strategies, and for good reason. Glossier’s “gTeam,” a group of staff known as “editors” instead of agents or associates, can be found engaging with customers across any and all platforms. Knowing that it would be impossible to make a profit selling a lipstick once, like a mattress or car sale, Glossier’s gTeam does not approach customer service as a cost center. They are thinking long term– how can we make sure this consumer does not buy lipstick only once, only for it to sit in a drawer forever?
The gTeam’s focus on loyalty has created one of the most raved about customer service teams in recent history– they even have a Reddit page mostly full of consumers sharing their amazing experiences with Glossier’s gTeam.
Once, when I ordered a blue eyeliner from Glossier’s new pencil eyeliner line, I quickly realized the color was not right for my skin tone. I emailed the gTeam asking if I could return the pencil, and they sent me a pencil more matched to my skin tone for free, telling me I could keep my original purchase or give it to a friend. Another time, the cap on my perfume bottle broke. I DM’d a photo to the gTeam, and they sent me a free replacement in 2 days, plus a bunch of stickers (which I have effectively placed on every thermos and water bottle I own).
Glossier has built a loyal following, because consumers know that if they do not like a particular product, or shade, or they wish they could try something else, they will not be out of their money. There is little risk involved with trying a new Glossier product, so why not try all of them?
The gTeam’s human, personalized, and multi-platform touch has revolutionized the beauty industry, enough so that when Glossier launched its first in-person stores, they had customers lining up around the block to participate in the brick-and-mortar experience.
And the in-person experience? It’s a wonderland.
Glossier’s flagship store in Seattle, for example, was designed with inspiration from the Pacific Northwest’s local flora– featuring mossy boulders, giant mushrooms, holographic insects, and, of course, Glossier’s trademark baby pink.
In an exceedingly digital consumer landscape, Glossier has made in-store shopping an immersive, almost amusement park-like experience. This innovation and creativity makes shopping not just a habit or chore, but an experience.
With Glossier’s recent decision to be sold on Sephora’s shelves, it will be interesting to see how the gTeam evolves to scale its incredible, human-run customer experience that has kept Glossier at the fore in recent years. But for now, Glossier’s personalized, innovative customer experience and simple, consistent brand image takes the cake.
Which beauty brands have brought the most CX game this year? What brands keep you coming back? Join our discussion forum here to share your thoughts, or email us at ccwomen@cmpteam.com.