BW Confidential’s newsletter on the latest retail & tech trends in beauty
RETAIL INSIGHTS
No sale. US-based department store Macy’s has ended discussions with investment companies Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management about a potential buyout after more than seven months of talks. The news caused the retailer’s share price to plunge 15% yesterday. Macy’s said Arkhouse and Brigade’s buyout proposal failed to provide value and that there was significant uncertainty as to how it would be financed. Arkhouse and Brigade were said to have upped their bid to buy Macy’s to $6.9bn last week. The investment companies had plans to take the retailer private. The proposal was seen by some as a way for the investment firms to monetize Macy’s real-estate portfolio, rather than a deal to develop the company’s retail offer.
Macy’s will now focus on its turnaround strategy, which was revealed earlier this year. The strategy will see the retailer close 150 Macy’s stores, expand small-format stores and open 15 new Bloomingdale’s and 30 new Bluemercury stores.
Sephora’s store expansion… Sephora continues to open more stores in the UK. The company opened its third store in the country in May in Manchester, will open two more in Newcastle this fall, and has just announced that it will open another in Birmingham this winter at the Bullring shopping center. Sephora claims that its online community has informed its decisions regarding the locations of its store openings in the UK. It also boasts that each new store brings exclusive brands previously unavailable to the regions where it sets up shop. For example, at the new Birmingham store, the assortment will include Makeup by Mario, GXVE by Gwen Stefani, Haus Labs by Lady Gaga and a new brand popular on TikTok, Topicals – all of which are exclusive to Sephora UK.
…And beauty events. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Sephora is to hold its annual beauty event SEPHORiA in Atlanta, US. This year’s event, which will be held on September 27-28, is being billed as the retailer’s biggest. The theme is ‘Beauty Funhouse,’ and the retailer states that there will be more than 50 brand activations at the event, which will allow attendees to discover new products and meet with brand founders and make-up artists. There will also be surprise guest appearances and masterclasses.
Sephora will begin selling tickets for the event today. There are two types of tickets: a $135 ticket ($160 if tickets are bought from August onwards), which includes a three-hour session and gift bags (with a value of $500); and a $420 ticket ($455 from August onwards), which includes a three-hour session, a gift bag (with a value of $1,300), as well as access to a VIP lounge. The SEPHORiA event will also take place in Paris, France and Shanghai, China in October, and in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Dubai United Arab Emirates in November.
Adding value to loyalty programs. Some 70% of consumers in the US say that loyalty program offerings are a key factor when considering a purchase, according to a study by gifting company Snappy. Some 72% join a loyalty program prior to making their first purchase, 76% spend more money when part of a loyalty program, while 73% perceive a brand more positively when they receive quality gifts or exclusive merchandise as part of a loyalty program.
The study highlights the importance of personalization in loyalty programs, saying consumers appreciate acknowledgment during key moments, such as birthdays (90%), the holiday season (60%), and anniversaries of their first brand interaction, purchase, or membership sign-up (59%). Some 91% prefer loyalty programs that enable them to select their gifts, while 25% appreciate unexpected rewards and gifts from brands. Conversely, 71% of consumers are turned off by rewards that they view as low-value. Some 71% also dislike complicated procedures for reward redemption.
Private labels. Retailer-owned brands reached all-time highs in both unit and dollar share in the US during the first half of 2024 versus the same period a year ago, according to Circana sales data provided to the Private Label Manufacturers Association International Council (PLMA). Unit market share was 22.9% and dollar market share was 20.4% as of June 16. The PLMA said there is a ‘store brands phenomenon’ that is impacting every channel, department, and category in retail. Store brand dollar sales rose 2.3% compared to 1.1% growth for national brands. In unit sales, store brands rose by 2.5%, while national brands fell 0.8%. Beauty is the category that saw the strongest gains, with dollar sales up 10%.
TECH BYTES
CeraVe’s soap opera. Skincare brand CeraVe has launched a new campaign called Cleanse Like a Derm – a CeraVe Soap Opera, which is billed as a soap opera-inspired drama film. Inspired by daytime television and research stating that 43% of consumers rely on soap for facial cleansing and 77% of consumers have cleansing habits that would not please a dermatologist, the film aims to educate consumers on what the brand deems proper cleansing habits, while debunking myths. The film features actress Xochitl Gomez, dermatologist and social-media influencer Dustin Portela, and is directed by actress and comedian Milana Vayntrub – personalities that the brand hopes will attract Gen Z.
In addition to the film, CeraVe partnered with 40 influencers to create soap opera-like social-media content demonstrating what it sees as bad cleansing habits and how to rectify them using the brand’s cleansers. CeraVe also collaborated with dermatologist influencers to create reaction videos in which they debunk cleansing misconceptions and demonstrate the benefits of the brand’s Hydrating Facial Cleanser. The Cleanse Like a Derm soap opera launched across social, digital and streaming platforms on July 15.
TikTok’s million club. TikTok Shop is to launch the ‘£1Million Club’ in the UK, a plan to help new businesses reach £1m ($1.29m) in revenue on the platform. The plan features five benefits for new merchants: up to 90 days commission-free sales, free storage and fulfillment via Fufilled by TikTok, seller support priority service, and seller training through Tiktok Shop’s Seller Academy. TikTok Shop will also offer marketing support for merchants, lending brands increased exposure via campaigns, creator content and traffic support.
The initiative comes as Mitchell Halliday, make-up artist and Founder and CEO of the brand Made By Mitchell, became the first brand in the UK to reach $1m (£771k) in sales in one day on TikTok Shop. Halliday hosted a 12-hour live which saw one product sell every second. Sports brand Puma recently reported a 737% increase in weekly revenue through an affiliate program on TikTok Shop, while 57% of online retailer ASOS‘ transactions were from new customers after launching on TikTok Shop.
TikTok & teens. TikTok claims to have introduced restrictions on advertising to teens. Advertisers are now unable to reach teens in the US using personalized targeting and campaign selections. They can now only use a few broad targeting options, such as location, language, and device-related information. TikTok has also launched an AI-generated content (AIGC) disclosure tool for advertisers. The company’s policies require realistic AIGC to be labeled on TikTok. Advertisers can now use a self-disclosure toggle in the TikTok Ads Manager to declare an ad to be AI generated.
Combining social commerce with personalization. Social-commerce platform Flip has acquired the marketplace Curated for $330m in stock. Flip provides a TikTok-like video discovery experience, enabling users to shop through short, videos and earn rewards by creating video reviews. Meanwhile, Curated connects consumers with verified experts for personalized advice on high-value purchases. Flip says the deal will enable it to expand into the specialty market, especially for high-consideration purchases that benefit from expert advice.
Threads promotions. Instagram plans to bring its branded content tools to Threads, according to press reports. This will enable marketers to run paid promotions on the app, while advertising remains unavailable. As with Instagram, companies will have to add labels to posts flagging paid partnerships. Threads reportedly won’t introduce ads until its user base reaches critical mass.
SOCIAL MEDIA BUZZ: Trending in beauty
Key beauty trends on social media
Last week’s top growing TikTok trend across all beauty categories was sunscreen, according to research company Spate. User @lina.noory posted a paid video promoting the La Roche-Posay Anthelios UV Hydra SPF 50 Sunscreen.
One of the fastest-growing make-up trends is Latina make-up, according to Spate. Latina make-up had an average of 26.8K monthly searches, with a +264% growth in searches versus last year. Specifically, people are searching for ‘Copy and paste Latina make-up’ — a TikTok trend that refers to full glam make-up and long, straight dark hair like Mexican-American singer Becky G.
Another trend topper is monolid eyeliner (an eyelid shape that appears to lack a crease that separates the eyelid into two parts), which has an average of 2.5K monthly searches and saw a 88.4% growth in searches versus last year. Popular searches include ‘how to do eyeliner for monolids’ and ‘monolid eyeliner tutorial’. Meanwhile, searches like ‘Best eyeliner for Asian eyes monolid’ and ‘Asian monolid eyeliner’ reveal that this trend impacts certain demographics.
Herringbone highlights is a new trend for addressing gray hair. Herringbone highlights is a hair coloring technique which involves applying foils at an angle in a herringbone pattern to blend a mix of shades together, rather than completely hiding the gray. The technique has been seen on Goop-founder Gwyneth Paltrow and actor Sarah Jessica Parker. Herringbone Highlights Technique has 20.1 million posts on TikTok