Beauty Brands are Winning At e-Commerce, Here’s What Luxury Can Learn From Them
What e-commerce features do skincare brands have in place to deliver the best consumer experience and increase sales? The third set of insights from DLG’s latest report, “The Online State of Skincare Brands,” sheds light on e-commerce best practices and how cross-industry leaders can deliver a frictionless consumer experience.
The beauty industry has been evolving and transforming at a rapid pace for the past few years, with new direct-to-consumer players disrupting the market and heritage brands going through an internal digital transformation process, all in hopes of meeting consumers’ increasing needs. In this competitive environment, beauty brands have been forced to innovate and differentiate themselves in order to create meaningful and positive digital experiences for the consumer.
In the current context, skincare is more relevant than ever for beauty brands, implementing important e-commerce strategies for luxury brands to pick up on. While it is essential to understand how consumers search and whatconcerns they express, it’s also equally as important to deliver an e-commerce experience that truly connects with them.
From User Experience to Check-Out
What are the best practices in terms of User Experience (UX) when it comes to purchasing products on brands’ websites? What are the features that will take this experience to the next level?
These are some of the questions that the third set of insights from “The Online State Of Skincare Brands” report answers.
We analysed a selection of website features from 12 skincare brands: the top six fastest growing brands (three newcomers and three established brands) and six from the top 10 most searched brands. The research focuses on products and UX based on the U.S. market, the biggest for most of the skincare brands.
12 brands considered for the e-commerce analysis
With the objective of defining the best practices when it comes to experiencing a brand’s e-commerce service, 24 criteria-based on seven main pillars were used for analysis:
Product discovery
Consumer feedback
Consumer service
Incentives
Payment
Omni-channel
Check-out experience
Transparent, Simple, and Helpful
Offering a seamless e-commerce experience, making sure all product-related information and consumer reviews are transparent, and picking up on consumer cues to personalise experiences and products are just a few of the key elements brands need to have in place to thrive in delivering the best-in-class experience.
Both approaches underline the importance of brands offering an omni-channel experience to their consumers.
Skinceuticals product listing page comparison to support consumers
in decision-making and reducing choice paralysis
Transparent rating and reviews by L’Occitane, showcasing if the product was purchased or given for free to write the review
Drunk Elephant’s product page containing all information consumers need to make a decision (price, rating, awards, description, how to use, ingredients, video tutorial and philosophy)
From our extensive analysis, the report highlights the key e-commerce features, for both consumers and brands, necessary to succeed in the digital landscape. The report also offers real best-case practises, enabling luxury brands to optimise strategies in a more impactful way.