Optimization of Online Store in Care & Make-up

Online shops specialized in care and make-up offer a wide range of products, from daily skin care products to luxury cosmetics. Customers look for products that suit their skin type and beauty regimen, which can range from simple moisturizers to advanced anti-aging serums. An effective online store in this industry should not only offer high-quality products, but also detailed information and advice on how to best use these products to meet individual beauty needs.

This article examines barriers that are common among online stores in this industry, with practical solutions to overcome them effectively. It takes an in-depth look at a specific highlighted element that is essential for this sector, supplemented with a proposal to promote sustainability. Various case studies are presented as illustrations.

Challenges

Care & makeup comes in many shapes, sizes, types, and price ranges. This creates unique challenges when converting visitors into customers.

• Product experience: One of the biggest challenges in online sales of care and make-up products is conveying the product experience to the customer. In a physical store, customers can feel textures, smell scents and test products directly.
• Color accuracy: Color rendering is crucial in the makeup industry. Customers must be able to trust that the color they see on their screen matches the actual product. However, variations in screens and settings can lead to color differences, which can disappoint customers and lead to returns.
• Skin properties: Customers have specific needs based on their skin type and tone, which makes purchasing care products and makeup complex. This requires in-depth knowledge of product ranges and customer segmentation.
• Trust: In the care and make-up industry it is essential that customers have confidence in the authenticity and quality of the products. The risk of counterfeiting and the sensitivity of skin products require that online stores provide strict quality controls, clear product provenance, and strong customer service to gain and maintain consumer trust.

Tips

The following recommendations are intended to help online stores specialized in care and makeup increase their conversion rate. Due to differences in platform, budgets and team size, it is essential to test these tips through AB testing before applying them on a larger scale.

• Provide personalized recommendations: Develop a personalized recommendation system based on the customer's current preferences, purchase history and skin type. This can be done through a smart algorithm that suggests products that match previous purchases or through a quiz that customers complete to identify their skin type, preferences and needs. Such a personal approach can boost conversions by helping customers find products specifically tailored to their needs.
• Collect lots of customer reviews: Extensive product reviews and testimonials play a crucial role in building trust; actively encourage customers to share their experiences and possibly offer an incentive for writing a review.
• Show comprehensive product information: Provide detailed product descriptions including ingredients, directions for use, and benefits. Also include high-resolution images and videos showing the use of the product.
• Provide good customer service: Live chat support can be a useful option here, where customers can get real-time advice about products. It may even be possible to consider (scheduled) video calls where specific advice can be given by the specialists.

Highlighted

An online store in the care and makeup sector can significantly increase its conversion by not only selling products, but also by educating and informing customers about the different aspects of skin care and makeup. This aspect is crucial in an industry where new products and trends are constantly emerging and customers often do not fully understand how to use these products effectively or which ingredients are suitable for their skin type. The explanation can be done through extensive product descriptions, blog posts, video tutorials, and detailed guides on the benefits and applications of different products. By offering educational content, the online store helps customers make better purchasing decisions and increases the likelihood that customers will return for more purchases. Customers appreciate when a brand helps them better understand how to improve their appearance and skin health, which ultimately leads to greater loyalty and trust in the brand providing the information.

Sustainability

An important aspect of sustainability in this industry is the use of refillable packaging. This concept is not only economically beneficial to consumers, but also significantly reduces the amount of waste produced by the cosmetics industry. The care and make-up industry uses an enormous amount of packaging, often made of plastic and other materials that are difficult to recycle. By switching to refillable systems, brands can not only reduce their carbon footprint, but also offer their customers a cost-effective solution. Customers purchase a 'holder' or 'container' for their product, such as a shampoo or lipstick, once, and then purchase refills when the product runs out. This significantly reduces the production and use of new packaging and helps reduce waste. Brands such as Lush and MAC Cosmetics have already successfully implemented this model, even rewarding customers with free products when returning empty packaging for recycling. These types of initiatives not only contribute to a more sustainable world, but also strengthen brand image and customer loyalty by giving consumers an active role in the sustainability process.

Examples

• UBeauty: This lot shows an example of a quiz that they use to recommend the right products. By being able to ask the visitor's properties and preferences in this way, they will be able to personalize the offer shown, which may increase conversions.
• 111Skin: The product reviews of a product are shown here. Options are offered to sort and filter the reviews. A summary is also shown and it is possible to leave a review yourself. Personally, I think they should hide the option to leave a review on the product page and handle this via an email flow.
• Kaea: This section provides a detailed description of the ingredients present. It also discusses (lower on the page) how the products can best be used and which other products go well with this product.
• Knesko: Using this live chat, visitors can ask customer service questions in real time. To reduce the pressure on service employees (and to help customers extra quickly), frequently asked questions are also shown. This may allow visitors to find an answer to their question themselves, without having to speak to an employee.