How will beauty adapt to & own the ‘new normal’?

It’s clear that globally all retail experiences are going to have to adapt to a new way of functioning, not only to weather the current situation but potential future ones too. Retail stores the world over were not designed to support social distance or operate in a sterile way. According to a poll by ‘RetailX’ – “Almost nine in 10 (89%) UK shoppers say they have reduced or stopped their visits to shops as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic”. These statistics can be interpreted as a litmus test for the current shopper fear of entering retail environments in their existing formats.

The study also showed that only “43% ‘of shoppers’ say that after the pandemic is over they expect to carry on shopping in the way they do now”. This indicates that shoppers will absolutely need to be convinced to return to physical stores and the only way that can be achieved successfully is through the introduction of new measures and policies that assuage fear and build trust.

It can be said that shopper fear stems from the justified concern that interaction with anyone or anywhere outside of your specific household is a risk. It is this risk that drives shoppers away from physical retail environments, so by removing the need for interaction, we remove one barrier to customers returning to stores. For traditional retail, interaction seems like an unavoidable problem and the challenge of getting shoppers to return to physical environments appears steep. However some brands around the world are already operating in ways that show how reduced interaction can be delivered without negating customer experience. Korean beauty store Innisfree had been experimenting with its new shopping concept entitled ‘Self Store’ well before the pandemic hit.

We visited one of these stores in South Korea’s capital city Seoul and were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the self service experience. Shoppers can browse at their leisure surrounded by digitally enhanced ticket strips, signage and checkout experience – all but removing the need for staff interaction without reducing the level of education and engagement with product required to support a satisfying shopping journey.

With the need for staff to assist customers reduced, their focus can be redirected to keeping the space clean and safe, sanitising consumer touch-points and providing shoppers a sense of security.

The way that cosmetics retail is conducted has some fundamental issues that conflict with the ability to follow social distancing and heightened hygiene practices. The industry relies on product interaction in the form of communal testers and face to face advice from brand product experts –both of which do not mix well during a pandemic. A new way of providing the services customers want will need to be devised.

Possibly the most pressing issue for beauty retail is rethinking what the future of product testing should be.

According to a study of US consumers (by First Insight – CBO) ‘78% of shoppers do not feel safe testing beauty products in-store’. Such a high percentage of anxiety around testing product is bound to have a negative effect on product engagement in stores, as well as increase the amount of dissatisfied customers leaving negative feedback, due to choosing the wrong product to purchase as they have not been able to test out products easily before committing to a purchase.

Looking to the latest trends in packaging-free products such as the ‘naked’ Lush range and trends within skincare, we can imagine a world where sustainable and biodegradable single use ampoules could replace traditional on shelf communal-use testers. Ampoules make disposable and small products feel more luxuriant and special, having a sense of being dedicated ‘just for me’. Acting both as a remedy for the lack of traditional test product going forwards whilst providing an elevated experience for shoppers and cosmetic enthusiasts.

Another solution to support the consumer in their product testing, prior to purchasing their personal preference in product is the idea of a range tester pack. Through necessity, gone are the days of tester products, that often are well used and sullied – instead free or low cost tester packs or product libraries could be created. These packs could be enjoyed in-store at a regularly sanitised vanity moment or taken home to be experimented with at the shoppers leisure. Fine fragrance boutique; ‘Floral Street’ offer a low priced scent library that allow consumers to try out their entire range in small doses to find their specific favourite. Shoppers can then return to store for instant gratification or order online the scent they want most.

Online sales have been one of the only ways beauty shoppers have been able to get a hold of their cosmetic and skincare favourites whilst lock-down measures force beauty halls to close their doors. With non-essential stores set to re-open in the coming weeks, brick and mortar retail will need a new approach to both re-ignite sales and satisfy customers that have up until recently taken their custom to online platforms whilst unable to visit stores. Brands and retailers need to take a leaf out of the books of online beauty start-ups and digitally native brands.

Creating an experience that provides all the benefits of online shopping and more within a store will be of great importance when it comes to convincing shoppers to return to physical environments. Digitally native brands such as ‘The Inkey List’ & ‘Il Makiage’ are shining examples of how an effective customer journey can nurture decision making, engage their community in an omni-channel way with content, and provide real world benefit to its customer-base.

In the world of beauty & skincare, the one size fits all approach just doesn’t work for its demographic, often leaving them lost and unable to define their needs without having done extensive research before hand or risking dissatisfaction though a ‘trial and error’ approach. ‘The Inkey List’ however, provides a solution to customers paralysed by choice through a clever system that uses a short quiz to ascertain exactly the right skincare regime for you – a recipe list of products that are both personal and effective.

‘Il Makiage’ uses its web store to provide a very visual way to shop. Starting with the most popular looks trending on social media in your geographic locality through its strong base of local influencers and affiliated beauty bloggers. Shopping by look enables them to leverage ‘get the look’ beauty tutorials, connecting desirable looks with the products used to make them as well as engaging the customer with popular social media personalities.

The brand also utilises a short quiz to assist in the selection of the specific foundation shade the customer needs. Assurance is given to customers who are naturally anxious about getting the right skin-tone match through their risk free 60 day trial period whereby a refund can be obtained if its not what you had hoped for. It is this ‘put your money where your mouth is’ belief in their product and process that provides security for it’s customers.

After months of lock-down measures the world over people are feeling a real disconnect from their community and the once bustling beauty halls with their abundance of happenings, engaging activations, and latest product campaigns. With many brands holding back from producing new experiences, or experiencing reduced reach, customers are definitely feeling a bit of a void forming. One that is not fully satisfied by the trend of universal zoom meetings in place of a tangible sense of community.

Upon reopening retail, beauty brands have an opportunity to experiment with new ways of creating a sense of community and excite customers once again with activations that are designed to invigorate and inspire. With the tactile experience of physical retail severely weakened by the current state of affairs the visual will become ever more important. A more visually stimulating
approach to story-telling and brand identity could be a way to bring the community together.

Activations or campaigns which are visually stunning will encourage online social sharing, supporting digitally native generations to create content they can be a part of. We think back to activations by beauty brands such as ‘Benefit’ with their graphic and thematic pop-up experiences such as the disruptive pink and yellow fried chicken shop, or ‘Glossier’ with their oh-so instagrammable millennial pink pop up environments.

Another way we could encourage and restore a sense of community is by creating digital ‘I was here’ moments for customers to digitally leave their mark on store or beauty hall environments by leaving product recommendations or reviews for other shoppers to use in their decision making process, where reduced staff presence may be likely. This could be done through shoppers personal mobile devices or at serviced touch-points that are regularly sanitised after use. A best in class example of this being ‘the message tree’ at the revolutionary Samsung flagship space, Samsung KX at Coal Drops Yard. Here customers can leave, and read virtual messages through AR enabled devices- creating moments of virtual community with the physical environment.

Digital transformation has been a topic widely discussed and taken up in varying capacities for almost every industry, but the digital augmentation of physical spaces with smart tech within retail has been slow to adopt. Looking to the far east, to Korea, Japan, and China we see progression for beauty brands utilising technology in a way that holds innovation at its heart. We feel that through bringing more tech into the beauty retail industry brands can not only provide customers with beneficial systems that aid decision making or brand engagement, but also a pathway towards a better form of conducting business, protecting its consumers from current and future pandemics.

One example of this fully immersive innovation is the ‘SK-II Future X store’ in Shibuya, Tokyo. The store is a high tech landscape that aims to combine a symbiotic mix of art, tech and beauty to empower new unexpected ways of shopping. Camera powered art installations and face scan analysis provide insight into both the brand and personalised product recommendations all without the need for touch or any staff intervention. SK-II here have launched their proprietary skin diagnostic booth that allows for diagnostics to be carried out from as much as 45cm away; audio prompts walk the customer through the simple process, again reducing the need for close quarters interaction with staff. One aspect of the store that really spiked our interest is that the systems within actually remember each and every visitor, recognizing them as guests.

Customers who have been registered as guests receive personalised content in-store, empowering them to make choices based on their specific skincare requirements. Curated products and dedicated stories can then be presented to them as a way of assisting customers to make the right choice, all without the need for staff, touch or trial and error product testing journey. This kind of modern clientelling is key to satisfying the modern consumers’ desire for personalised, adaptive, cross-channel service.

Augmented reality and Virtual reality is another way tech can be leveraged to enhance the in-store experience. These technologies enable shoppers to have a richer experience and understanding of product on offer even when other areas of the journey that would typically engage a customer have become more difficult. We look to precedents set by brands such as ‘Charlotte Tilbury’ with their A.R enabled magic mirrors, and digital make-up overlays by artists such as Ines Alpha and see great opportunity where technology can build a pathway to a future where we can be more connected with products even at times of social distance and with a need for careful shopping practice.

Here at D4R we see many ways forward for the beauty industry in these uncharted times. We believe that through innovation and ingenuity the beauty industry can be the sector that shines the way forward. With self care and the pursuit of happiness ever prevalent in our minds, as lock-downs have unfortunately yet imperatively driven us apart, we feel that advances made in the beauty industry will pave the way for other industries to come together to shopper demand and actively grow it.

Where some see a roadblock to conducting business, we see a new doorway opening. With collaboration between design partners, manufacturing suppliers, brands and most importantly consumers we can not only get back to a sense of acceptable normality, but improve on it and bring back the joy of a first hand shopping and brand experiences.

Thank you for reading – Josh Knox.