Let’s face it, the beauty industry is looking stunning right now. GlobalData valued the UK market at £33.8 billion in 2020 with an expected compound annual growth rate of more than 2% by 2025.
As a major player in the online retail sector, the beauty industry sits at the vanguard of ecommerce invention. Whatever beauty companies are investing in and pioneering today is likely to be replicated across other ecommerce industries tomorrow...
Picking, packing and spotting trends
Fable & Mane, Ultra Violette, NeoLife, Lumene, DELAROM and Vitamasques are just some of the successful ecommerce brands that outsource their beauty product ecommerce storage, picking, packing and dispatch to Fullers Fulfilment.
Experts at our fulfilment centres in Hampshire, Berkshire and The Midlands aren’t just a bunch of pretty faces. They’ve got extensive knowledge of fulfilment best practice and they witness ecommerce innovation across a wide range of industries on a daily basis.
Here are 3 beauty ecommerce trends they think every sector can take a cue from:
1. Subscription services and personalisation
The UK subscription box market is set to be worth £1.8 billion by 2025. Everyone’s signing up – and not just to look good. The beauty industry has been at the forefront of subscription box innovation since the start, with brands in other sectors such as pet care, food and drink now copying a lucrative business model pioneered by the likes of Birchbox.
One of the features that makes subscription boxes so popular with consumers is personalisation. A study from McKinsey revealed that highly personalized curation services received 55% of total subscriptions. The most successful beauty box providers curate a handpicked edit of discoveries for the recipient based on their skin/hair profile, lifestyle and preferences.
Subscription boxes make such good business sense because they provide a regular touchpoint between brand and customer. They’re an excellent way to build lasting customer relationships and you can cultivate a strong brand community via social media and content marketing.
If you outsource your subscription box fulfilment to Fullers, we can pick and pack the selected goods to the required schedule, incorporating our personalisation technology. Need us to include some marketing collateral or carefully chosen trial sizes and complimentary samples? Just ask.
2. Sustainability and giving back
Have you heard about ‘blue beauty’? No, 1980s eyeshadow isn’t making a comeback... Founder of the movement, Jeannie Jarnot, explains the movement to Elle:
“Blue Beauty brands are making sure their products are safe for the environment – which includes being ocean safe as well as sustainably sourced, minimising carbon footprint etc. – but are also looking at ways their practices are contributing back to and having a net positive effect on the environment.”
For some time now, many beauty brands have been striving to meet growing consumer demand for clean, ethical and sustainable products and practices – one trend all ecommerce companies should follow.
Fullers Fulfilment is proud to be the UK fulfilment partner for Finnish skincare company Lumene, the leading beauty brand in Finland’s 2021 Sustainable Brand Index. In 2020 alone, Lumene reduced the carbon footprint of their factory by 92% and reduced plastic packaging by 45%. Lumene expect 100% of their partners to commit to a Supplier Code of Conduct.
Our environmental management system is certified to ISO 14001, the world's most recognized environmental management system. To achieve this, we must demonstrate ongoing efforts to manage processes carefully, use resources wisely and deal with waste responsibly.
We’re also helping to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by participating in the B1G1 (Buy One, Give One) initiative. Like our haircare client Fable & Mane – with their Fable Fund – we support wildlife conservation projects, as well environmental preservation and human rights protection across the world.
3. Investment in influencers
According to Harvard Business Review, 62% of the women said they follow beauty influencers on social media:
“When asked where they seek information about beauty products prior to purchasing them, social media influencers ranked highest at nearly 67%, followed by third-party product reviews at 59%, and beauty professionals at 55%. Company advertisements ranked much lower at 44%, and public figures and celebrities garnered only 34%.”
That’s why beauty giants like Estée Lauder now spend 75% of their marketing budget on influencers, whilst L’Oréal allocates 30% of its media spend to the digital space, including a ‘Beauty Squad’ made up of influencers with a combined reach of 5.5m.
One way to encourage engagement with influencers - in any sector - is with unique and thoughtful packaging and plenty of information about the product. That means that influencers might go on to feature your brand on their social media channels.
Fullers Fulfilment can source a wide range of specialist packaging and prepare orders in a way that will be worthy of that all-important, super-shareable unboxing moment.
Let’s give your fulfilment the beauty treatment and help put your brand in the spotlight
Ecommerce retailers that outsource their fulfilment to Fullers have more time to focus on other aspects of your business and they benefit from:
- Ultra-hygienic and secure warehousing
- Speedy picking, tailored/personalised packaging, and promt dispatch - including next day delivery
- Full systems integration allowing real-time visibility of order progress and business insights
- Dynamic stock management featuring careful batching and rotation
- Management of import/export customs processes for overseas orders
- Efficient returns processing
Our diligent team can provide fulfilment solutions for a diverse range of sectors, from beauty to food and drink, pet care to fashion, automotive to consumer lifestyle goods – and many more.
Contact Fullers Fulfilment to discuss your requirements today.
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