RETAIL COMMERCE DISCUSSION, Episode 5 Channels for Beauty
ON THIS PAGE HIGHLIGHTS – International: Exporting British beauty 1:48 mins HIGHLIGHTS – Marketplaces: Amazon, Feelunique and Little Red Book 2:31 mins HIGHLIGHTS – Branding Beauty: The right look and feel 1:47 mins HIGHLIGHTS – Physical Retail: Presence in stores 2:06 mins HIGHLIGHTS – Business Models: Managing costs and risks 1:55 mins HIGHLIGHTS – Direct versus Wholesale: Managing the mix 2:26 mins HIGHLIGHTS – Standing Out: Design, reviews and awareness 2:37 mins HIGHLIGHTS – Clean, Sustainable, Natural Beauty: Normalised 2:17 mins HIGHLIGHTS – Loyalty: How consumers shop beauty 1:14 mins FULL – Our edit of the Retail Commerce Discussion #5 26:56 mins
SPONSORS The Designlab – Creative Design & Digital Agency Seko – Global Logistics, Freight & Delivery Experts Tong Digital – Chinese social commerce agency
PARTICIPANTS Zaffrin O’Sullivan, Co-founder, Five Dot Botanics Danny Gray, Founder, War Paint For Men Aaron Chatterley, Founder, Feelunique.com Claire Muir, Commercial Director, Seko Kevin Davis, Founder, The Designlab Adam Knight, Co-founder, Tong Digital Wizz Selvey, Founder, Wizz&Co
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HIGHLIGHTS – International: Exporting British beauty 1:48 mins
Adam talks about the Chinese beauty brand, launched in 2016, which is now worth over $1bn USD. Zaffrin says the ‘British stamp’ will help Five Dot Botanics expand its reach in Middle East and Asian markets. Danny reveals the countries War Paint For Men is set to target with distributor, store and online retailer partners, and says his men’s make-up brand needs to be international.
HIGHLIGHTS – Marketplaces: Amazon, Feelunique and Little Red Book 2:31 mins
Founder of Feelunique.com Aaron explains why the business launched its marketplace. Zaffrin and Danny agree the size of Prime’s user base makes Amazon hard to avoid for their growing cosmetics and make-up brands. They offer another reason for listing on the platform too. Adam explains why Little Red Book is the site to be on for new beauty brands looking to break China.
HIGHLIGHTS – Branding Beauty: The right look and feel 1:47 mins
Kevin from creative agency The Designlab says brand guidelines can stifle creativity. Danny recalls attempts by Tom Ford and YvesSaintLaurent to dominate the men’s make-up category. Zaffrin opines Amazon’s ‘functionality’ saying it lacks space for storytelling for prestige brands like Five Dot Botanics.
HIGHLIGHTS – Physical Retail: Presence in stores 2:06 mins
Danny discusses launching a pop-up for his men’s make up brand War Paint For Men in John Lewis, recounting a devastating start. Aaron answers whether brands with a presence in physical stores do better on Feelunique.com. Wizz says physical retailers selling beauty need to get more flexible.
HIGHLIGHTS – Business Models: Managing costs and risks 1:55 mins
Claire discusses the competitive subscription box market. Aaron says Feelunique.com’s marketplace offers a way of increasing its range of brands without holding inventory. Zaffrin explains the profit pros and cons of wholesale versus direct-to-consumer.
HIGHLIGHTS – Direct versus Wholesale: Managing the mix 2:26 mins
Zaffrin reveals the direct-to-consumer and wholesale split for her minimalist skincare brand Five Dot Botanics. Danny says he didn’t want to partner with online retailers too early in the growth journey of his men’s make up brand War Paint For Men. Wizz offers advice for brands on whether to focus on direct-to-consumer or get into retail stores. Claire suggests brands consider carefully how they manage their stock holding when distributing to consumers and retailers.
HIGHLIGHTS – Standing Out: Design, reviews and awareness 2:37 mins
Adam says growing influencer fatigue in China has driven the rise of KOCs (key opinion consumers) who are trusted for their product reviews. Kevin says beauty brands need to be brave with design to get noticed, and having reviews can make a product stand out on a multi-brand retail site. Aaron says with 600 brands on Feelunique.com brands need to generate their own awareness to get noticed.
HIGHLIGHTS – Clean, Sustainable, Natural Beauty: Normalised 2:17 mins
Feelunique.com founder Aaron, who invests in beauty brands, reveals he only considers investing in brands with ‘sustainability credibility’. He talks about the increasing demand for natural brands on Feelunique.com. Wizz says it’s no longer enough for brands to say they’re sustainable. Adam discusses the growth of clean and natural beauty in the Chinese market. Zaffrin says her minimal ingredient skincare brand has global appeal.
HIGHLIGHTS – Loyalty: How consumers shop beauty 1:14 mins
Aaron and Wizz explain consumers shop for beauty across a variety of brands and levels. Zaffrin values direct-to-consumer relationships but says being in stores where customers are is also important.
FULL – Our edit of the Retail Commerce Discussion #5 26:56 mins
Music by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Artist: http://audionautix.com/
