eCommerce challenges in the beauty industry & quick tips to fix them
Well, we all know the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc in 2020.
Companies and industries went for a toll experiencing severe impacts. However, the beauty industry is one among the very few that remained relatively resilient to this crisis.
Although cosmetics and makeup products fall under the non-essential category, self-care products became more valuable due to the increased awareness for well-being. With the internet being loaded with beauty influencers and DIY care hacks, self-care opened a broad spectrum of lifestyle trends.
The global annual compounded growth rate reached 4.75%. Furthermore, predictions show that the industry will exceed $716 billion by 2025 and $784.6 billion by 2027.
Parallelly, the lockdowns and mobility restrictions have forced a seismic shift in consumer spending habits, leading to the soar of digital buyers worldwide.
You see, online commerce has added considerable convenience and undeniable benefits compared to the traditional “bricks-and-mortar” enterprises. Research data from Mckinsey unwrapped that there was a leap of 20-30% in the online revenue of beauty industry players during the course of the pandemic outbreak.
Ergo, it’s not surprising why most of the global beauty fashion retailers have adapted to the online commerce strategies since the kick-off of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Altogether, the beauty industry is witnessing an exploding growth in combination with digital innovation.
With the skyrocketing growth, beauty brands online are facing several unique challenges on a daily basis as well.
That’s why we The Commerce Shop have decided to guide you through these difficulties and empower your eCommerce beauty business.
Here you’ll learn about such quirky challenges specific to this industry, how you can optimize your eCommerce business and overcome them with effective solutions.
CHALLENGE #1: Enhancing the shopping experience
As the industries are adjusting to the online trend, the cosmetics sector is at the leading edge of eCommerce reinvention. This makes it unpredictable and more vulnerable to many challenges in this online retail apocalypse and everchanging online world.
The spiked growth for consumers buying beauty products online is pushing brands to come up with new ideas to create a compelling shopping experience over the internet.
QUICK FIX TIP:
To survive in this industry, as an eCommerce business owner you need to focus on the following features with extra caution.
Optimized UI design
Website loading time
Website speed
Mobile responsiveness
Easy navigation
Simple usability
To vitalize your site’s user experience and performance, use the free website design audit and get your detailed audit report.
CHALLENGE #2: Building brand loyalty
Unlike others, the beauty products don’t have a specific season or fixed occasions to focus on nor are they bought daily or weekly. More often than not, cosmetics are purchased on cycles throughout the year. This signifies that the brands are persistently challenged to keep the customers gripped to purchasing their products repeatedly.
QUICK FIX TIP:
Engage and convince your customers to come back every single time by taking advantage of the various ways available.
Active social media presence.
Creating persuasive content for your target audience.
Tailoring effective marketing strategies.
Addressing your target customers’ needs and interests.
Offering seamless shopping experience through support.
Establishing authority in SERP through SEO optimization.
With the cut-throat competition out there, customers easily switch between brands and products. Buyers expect a binding reason to keep coming back – be it the strong storyline or ease of availability of the products – the edge makes the difference.
So when it comes to the eCommerce beauty industry, the big question is how to convince? Perhaps, how to make them try your products first of all?
QUICK FIX TIP:
Try the following solutions.
Try different channels to reach your target audience and educate them.
Take advantage of the latest technologies that help customers try your products virtually.
Implement AI for data and lead generation.
Constantly engage with your customers through social media to learn their interests.
Run effective and efficient advertising campaigns.
Allowing customers to “test products” is one of the top-notch sales hacks used by beauty brands – In contrast, the biggest downside of selling cosmetics through eCommerce sites.
Without making the customers experience the product – the feel, ease of use, and how it works, displaying evidence of performance becomes difficult.
Moreover, most of the products need to be used right for the promised results. Driving sales without live demonstrations and free trials is more challenging than anticipated.
QUICK FIX TIP:
Here are a few handy solutions to make shoppers buy your products without being tested by themselves.
Provide social proof: Testimonials and customer reviews build trust and loyalty.
Untampered original images of the products help customers to make better buying decisions proving it to be trustworthy.
Engaging and informative content helps shoppers learn more about the product.
Displaying business information such as phone number, email id, address, and support numbers build credibility.
Go for the free content audit to know how convincing your brand voice is.
CHALLENGE #5: Improving customer retention
Educating shoppers on how to use the products effectively, make customers come back. Online buyers tend to assume the product to be ineffective after not using it properly. Thus, brands online are in need to fill these gaps to retain their customers.
Growing your own beauty community, becoming a part of consumers’ everyday lives, and bridging the gap between brands and buyers online are the 3 major phases of customer retention.
QUICK FIX TIP:
Foster a strong relationship with your customers through personalized services, offers, and reward programs.
Collect customer feedback, opinions, and reliable data to evaluate your present standard.
Make improvisations in the experience of your site based on customer feedback.
Follow an omnichannel approach to managing shoppers who search products on diverse channels.
Offer exceptional digital experience across devices such as mobile phones, tablets, desktops, and social media platforms.
Though eCommerce provides undeniable convenience most buyers prefer shopping in-store when it comes to beauty products. To replicate this “in-person” experience and to let customers virtually interact with the products before purchase, brands are stepping out of comfort zones to adopt various technologies.
QUICK FIX TIP:
Experiment with recent technologies and trends that are on talk in the eCommerce beauty sector.
Cart abandonment is one crucial problem that all eCommerce retailers struggle with – The beauty industry is no exception to it. There may be several reasons why customers are dropping off.
Tracking consumers’ behavior, stats and analytics can help in figuring out the mystery behind cart abandonment in your site.
Sorting out the issues and offering seamless solutions will increase your successful transaction rates. But in some cases, shoppers may add products to the cart and abandon them for no reason.
QUICK FIX TIP:
In these scenarios, the most effective solutions are,
Email follow-ups: This way the shopper is constantly reminded about the product and is encouraged to complete the transaction.
Retargeting: Through retargeting, you can provide irresistible offers to your customers to complete the purchase.
Take up the cart abandonment audit to identify the errors in your cart and learn how you can fix them.
CHALLENGE #8: Handling returns and refunds
We can hear you! – Yes, life would be much better without returns and refunds. Dealing with refunds and returns can be tedious. All eCommerce retailers need to deal with this hectic process from time to time. Handling this problem without you incurring loss or offending your customers needs perfect planning.
QUICK FIX TIP:
Try following the following hacks to impressively handle returns and refunds. It will save you a ton of time and cost.
Clear and precise guidelines that are simple to understand and easy to follow.
Draft and follow straightforward policies on purchase.
Optimize the procedure for return and refund with a standard procedure.
Implement strict policies to protect your products.
Offer efficient customer support services.
So, What’s your eCommerce challenge? Try the range of free audit tools available and supercharge your eCommerce website today!
The thing is, to triumph in the digital era of business you need a solid foundation of technology and support.
The rise of eCommerce, technology, and globalization has accelerated the eCommerce beauty industry’s annual growth rate (CAGR).
So, picking the right strategy, design, development, maintenance, optimization techniques, and integrations build the success of every eCommerce business. And that’s what we are here for.
The Commerce Shop is the single-stop destination for all your eCommerce needs. With our expertise in building brand experiences that yield conversions, we boost eCommerce businesses.
Why The Commerce Shop?
Started in 2009, The Commerce Shop is one of the fast-growing eCommerce agencies. We specialize in eCommerce technology, design, development, optimization, and marketing. With 500+ global clients, The Commerce Shop aims to revolutionize the eCommerce industry and help more and more businesses with our proficient services and solutions.
