Report: Online beauty consumers not very loyal to retailers

Digital shoppers enthusiasm for buying beauty products online doesn’t translate into retailer loyalty.



While online sellers of beauty and personal care products continue to capture more market share, online shopper loyalty seems to be elusive, according to report by A.T. Kearney.



"The study, which is based on a survey of 800 American online beauty shoppers, finds that 67% of consumers use four or more websites to fulfill their shopping needs," said Hana Ben-Shabat, A.T. Kearney partner and author of the study. The results indicate that both brands and retailers who sell beauty products online need to rethink how they build stronger loyalty from consumers.



Some key findings of the report include:



• Supply is shaping demand: The growth of e-commerce sales is a direct product of increasingly more sophisticated supply-side strategies.



• "Influencers" are on the rise: Consumers are increasingly trusting "people like them" to make purchasing decisions — undermining the brand authority as the only source of information.



• Shoppers seeking greater engagement: Beauty consumers are calling for a higher level of personalization from their preferred brands.



"The growing challenge of loyalty, the daily demand on retailers and brands to deliver a seamless experience between online and offline, and the need to 'give up some power' to new sources of influence are indicators of the current state of the beauty industry," Ben-Shabat said. "Succeeding in this new environment will require an artful integration of all channels, and adoption of new technologies to enhance personalization and authentic communication."