How the Beauty Industry is at the forefront of tech evolution

by Startacus Admin

In a world of constant scrolling, comments and likes, Kate Stott, Founder of BeautyBooker suggests that the beauty industry is at the forefront of that evolution...

The beauty industry is evolving in step with consumer trends and the new distribution channels created by the internet, globalisation and personalisation.

Businesses that are focused on evolving are the ones that thrive. They believe you are either making continuous adaptions to consumer needs or you risk falling behind.

This has forced many businesses to re- think their current model and evolve into one that emulates current and future consumer needs.

In an industry that is worth $532 Billion globally, we are seeing companies adapt to personalise their approach, moving away from traditions such as print advertising into the world of social media influencers and direct target marketing.

With advertising tactics changing, Social media influencers are said to be more effective the celebrities when it comes to beauty brand marketing.

It is estimated that people with followings between 30,000 and 500,000, called “power” influencers, make an average of £600 per video for marketing brands. It will be interesting to see how this method of advertising will have longevity in the need for constant adaptation and the new limits that platforms such as Facebook & Instagram set within their algorithms. Will it have longevity? … only time will tell.

Leading the way with a more personalised consumer approach is L’Oréal of whom in March of last year, acquired ModiFace, an augmented reality beauty company, which has allowed it to roll out features like virtual makeup and hair colour try-ons, as well as an online skincare diagnostic, that will help people bring the experience of trying a product onto a screen. Earlier this year, L’Oréal announced that it would be bringing ModiFace’s AR technology to Amazon to create the first virtual cosmetics try-on experience for the retailer.

The need for change has not stayed within cosmetic companies alone, salons and beauty clinics certainly within the UK have also felt the need to stay ahead of the curve.

British International company Toni & Guy recently announced their interest free “buy now – pay later” scheme, which offers customers to have a credit limit of up to £240 that they can pay back over the course of 6 weeks. Making it an alluring option for the customers that are already on a budget over this Christmas period.

As a recent judge on Scotland’s North East Hair & Beauty Awards, I witnessed a trend emerge time and time again, one of which is that salons and beauty clinic’s in particular find it hard to reach a new customer base and customer retention proves difficult in the new social media era.

Customers attention is being consistently averted to the next picture or story on Instagram along with Facebook & Instagram’s algorithms not allowing these businesses to reach their whole customer following within one posting. Such challenges make it extremely difficult to reach their full customer base and extend it out with to attract new customers.

At BeautyBooker, we have created a mobile application tool that provides a directory for hair & beauty business owners to showcase their work, list their customer reviews and provide their real-time availability allowing new and existing customers to book them at a click of a button.

In a world of constant scrolling, comments and likes, BeautyBooker wanted to provide a space where people can access and book what they wanted quickly.

We are at a very exciting stage within BeautyBooker; having just launched version 2 of the BeautyBooker app, as well as our new BeautyMaker app which allows Hair & Beauty professionals to update their appointment availability in real time, we also have plans to advance the tech even further beyond mobile applications. 

We will continue to grow our brand as the ultimate in hair & beauty inspiration, with plans to expand nationally and, eventually, internationally.

top image Copyright BeautyBookerLimited 

 

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Published on: 14th December 2019