By Neha Jindal
1952 saw the birth of the first-ever Indian cosmetics brand- Lakme. Its success energized entrepreneurs and industrialists, paving the way for more homegrown brands to carve out their target segments. By the 1990s, every woman had her preferred brand of kajal, talcum powder, lipstick, and liquid foundation.
With the foray of Indian women into professions that weren’t strictly traditional, smartly turned-out independent, career ladies with significant disposable incomes became the norm. 1995 saw the entry of the first global brand, Revlon, in Tier 1 cities, and others like L’Oreal soon followed suit!
The Silent Generation once taught their young baby boomers how to thriftily diy their kajal with a diya, a flame, and some ghee. Fast forward to today- Gen Xs, Millennials, and Gen Zs contribute to US$6.27bn revenue in cosmetics. And it’s all thanks to the internet.
From Class To Classification
Pre-1990s, there were numerous tiny players and a few big brands. The sole differentiator between them all lay in the territories they supplied. Right from the raw materials used to the pricing and packaging of the product, every aspect was carefully considered, keeping in mind the target market. A particular brand of lip gloss that was available in the alley shops of Bombay could not be found in the markets of Madras.
Today, it’s no longer as basic- and quite frankly insulting- as promising fairness and beauty to a maiden looking for answers in a vial of tinted chemicals. From class to territory and pricing, the 2000s ushered in the era of classifying products by type, use, and color. But shoppers from Tier II & Tier III locales had no access to some of the products their Tier I friends could readily purchase at the mall.
The Reach of the Internet
By the time cosmetics brands could make haste and jump on the internet bandwagon in India, Amazon swept the nation, and its offerings brought glad tidings. The internet opened up to offer products from strategically positioned urban brands to those residing in the towns and villages of India.
The reader may recall a rather famous scene from the Mr. Bean series where he crawled through the perfume section to escape the assault on his senses. Understandably, big city consumers chose to evade the sensory assault and shop from home as well. But unless they were going to stock up on previous favorites, they had no way of knowing what to purchase.
To Get or Not to Get, That is the Question
Let’s say a shopper enters a store for a shade of red lipstick. They either settle for a product, purchase it, and depart, or, if unsatisfied, hop on to another brand to check their offerings. And any time they need to test a shade, the staff at the counters draws out a bold swash of tint on the shopper’s wrist. This rigmarole may even put some shoppers off buying- let’s call it what it is – a “non-essential” item.
But the whole problem with shopping online vs. shopping at a physical store was just this – no trials. Beauty retailers like Nykaa began to write extensive, highly descriptive content for every product to address this blind spot. This was paired with visuals of tint swatches on every conceivable Indian skin tone. With heavy discounts, freebies, and coupons, cosmetics retailers convinced the large urban audience to shop online along with their rural compatriots.
Hello, Virtual Makeover!
Cosmetics is a highly competitive world. To retain their crown, beauty giants began investing heavily in virtual tech worldwide. One of the earlier offshoots was the makeover tool. On Maybelline and Mac’s website, users can select a shade of lipstick, eyeshadow, or blush, snap a picture of themselves, and see how the shade looks on them.
This little tool caused shoppers to pick up multiple shades and a wider assortment of complementary products, something that they were not likely to do in a brick-and-mortar space.
Which Type Are You?
To further help digital shoppers, online cosmetics retailers like Sephora and e.l.f began to create various questionnaires to help users figure out hair and skin type, colour suitability, and so on. They were soon armed with incredibly useful data for targeted ads and promotional emails.
This data also helped brands source and curate products with mass appeal, ensuring they faced reduced chances of dead stock in inventory. The shoppers no longer had to deal with irrelevant spam, and the brands could carve out a working segmentation of their customers by product type rather than territory.
Digital Beauty Today
Just as one collects boosters in a game, cosmetics brands are arming themselves with tech innovations to improve customer experience and stay ahead in the race. Now that they are digital-ready and able to acquire customers, retention has become their focus.
To enhance delivery experiences, they turn to logistics solutions providers to help them up the ante on performance. In order to stay on top of their stocking and inventory, they partner with WMS specialists. They work with communication experts to fine-tune their alerts, notifications, and customer relationship quotient.
Consumers have moved away from sticking to a particular shade for a lifetime and experimenting with the latest drops in exciting new beauty products. And this break in consumer behaviour is all thanks to the internet.
(The author is Neha Jindal, Head of Cosmetics and Beauty, ClickPost, and the views expressed in this article is her own)
