For decades, beauty standards were determined by a select few within the industry. Nowadays, they are defined differently for everyone, creating more acknowledgment of one’s personal experience and worldview. If you think about it, cosmetics have always been about personalized experiences rather than a general consensus. Sure, beauty is cyclical, much like fashion — but through all the major shifts, one absolute has remained: cosmetics are inherently individualized because they’re based on one’s style, preferences, and needs.
Since customers want various foundations, choose certain shades of lipstick, and often stick to their favorite moisturizer, you’ll want to create an online shopping experience, which presents your products in a digestible, findable, and personalized way that encourages vast opportunity but also doesn’t overwhelm. With an increasing number of beauty brands competing for visibility in today’s overcrowded market, many businesses have begun revamping their ecommerce strategies to uphold customer expectations. If your brand is behind, then it’s time to take the following actionable steps:
Accommodate the Seeker and Their Preferences
Brands are now shifting their mindset to accommodate digital seekers, who are driving the commerce revolution. These prospective customers are not only demanding, but they’re also progressively diverse. So, marketers, merchandisers, and CRM managers need rich intelligence and purposeful insights to make all points of contact relevant and meaningful to a specific person, not just a generalized group of people.
Since there are hundreds of different attributes to evaluate when considering potential customers, this is easier said than done. Combine all these consumer variables with your product data, and it seems impossible to make anything significant out of this overwhelming amount of information. Yet, the perfect technology stack will use both product and customer data — or commerce data — to create highly personalized, end-to-end experiences at scale.
Take Your Strategy Up a Notch With Commerce Data
Marketing automation platforms have served as a viable solution for many businesses looking to stay competitive, reduce manual tasks, and foster brand loyalty. To be successful in the ecommerce space, however, your business needs to appropriately leverage commerce data with this tool. Customer data is the personal, behavioral, and demographic intel collected by your company, while product data is the information about a product, such as pricing, descriptions, and availability.
If you only have product data, then you will miss the mark on personalizing customer journeys, and by only utilizing customer data, you will jeopardize your company’s ability to connect customers with the appropriate products. For instance, knowing a shopper’s preference for concealer doesn’t help your bottom line if you can’t direct them to a corresponding category page. You need both to work together to form a comprehensive snapshot of who your customers are, what they’re purchasing, and how frequently they shop with your brand.
Commit to a Tech Stack That Solidifies Your Reputation
When it comes to effectively using commerce data, your tech stack should not begin and end with a Customer Data Platform (CDP) that simply builds and stores ethically collected data. Instead, invest in a solution that provides a 360-degree customer view, precise targeting, higher-quality interactions, and the ability to quickly respond to changes in the market or consumer preferences.
When commerce data is combined with a best-of-breed technology stack, it can help reputable cosmetic brands across the globe — like Yves Rocher, Benefit Cosmetics, Revolution Beauty, and asambeauty — increase conversions and revenue with optimized digital experiences. Bloomreach’s data platform has a deep understanding of customers and products to put the right offering in front of the right person at the right time. Our historical data assets, patented commerce-specific AI, and distinct commerce capabilities deliver customer journeys so personalized, they feel like magic.
If you’re eager to learn more, check out an overview of our Engagement pillar, or schedule a demo with us today!