It’s a perennial problem that’s poised to get worse: What makes shoppers happy, and why aren’t retailers able to offer it? WSL is getting to the bottom of the challenge by talking to retailers and gathering shopper insights to understand how they can regain their entrepreneurial spirit.

Retailers and Brands, What’s Keeping You From Caring?

Nearly seven in 10 consumers tell us that the top necessity for living a happy life is being with people who care for them. Yet when we calculated the “caring scores” shoppers give retailers, the average was seven out of 10. In fact, no retailer scored better than seven – only one retailer approached an eight. (Can you guess who?)

Does that mean shopping is not a happy place? Depends on where you shop!

• 70% of shoppers told us they have been confronted by locked merchandise that required a sales associate to unlock. One-third told us they avoid these stores in the future. If a store is going to lock merchandise, it should let shoppers know so they can order online for in-store pick-up.
• For many consumers, paying the basic bills and putting gas in the car often means passing up a favorite brand. Nearly two-thirds of shoppers told us they have done so much because of high prices driven by inflation.
• A big brand concern is that more than half of shoppers feel manufacturers no longer care about quality. There are exceptions, but few. Faced with increasing prices, no added value or innovation and shrinkflation, can you blame shoppers for feeling quality has suffered?

The common denominator in these issues is they generate stress that makes the shopping trip harder, when many consumers go to the store to get away from stress.

Why can’t retailers remove the barriers to shopper happiness? We suspect it’s because retailers face their own barriers.

Here’s What We See as Retailer’s Happiness Hurdles

• A culture of caring about the customer should be at the heart of retail. Choosing and training the right store managers is essential to achieving a caring culture in every store.
• If a store locks up merchandise to prevent pilferage, it needs to give shoppers another option so they don’t scratch it off their stores-to-shop list. Listing locked merchandise on the website can allow shoppers to order online for store pick-up.
• Closing self-checkouts, which are used by two-fifths of shoppers, can deter customers from making quick in-and-out trips. (Self-checkouts skew younger, but one-third of Boomers use them, too.)

What We Can Suggest You Do Now:

Make caring a key performance measure.

Consumers have made it clear in our surveys that retail and brand trust is earned through acts of caring. The store manager is key for training and emphasis. A simple in-store shopper survey can help to determine if this is a caring retailer.

Build trust in national brands.

As shoppers weigh the value of their favorite brand vs. the pricing, trust in national brands has declined. In our research, Gen Z and Millennials feel store brands are innovative, well packaged and high quality – for a lot less money. Ask: Have store brands made inroads in your category?

Consider alternate channels for premium pricing.

Consumers appear to shed their money-conscious mindsets while shopping newer, less-traditional channels such as social media and direct-to- consumer. This might be because these channels are so easy to shop. One in four consumers we surveyed said they recently purchased something from a social media channel such as TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat or Facebook, or from a direct-to-consumer site. Two in five are increasing their shopping in these channels.

Reimagine the front end of the store.

Two-thirds of online order customers still run into the store after curbside pickup, with men likely looking for snacks and women for sales items. So retailers that offer this convenience should reconsider what merchandise those customers see if they enter the store. Put discounted goods within the line of site at the front of the store, for example. Meanwhile, retailers can find ways to attract that one-third of pickup customers who do not come in, perhaps with test coupons or similar incentives.

Speak up!

If retailers offer price reductions, easy shopping and a caring experience, they need to shout it out to shoppers. Shoppers don’t read press releases, but they do notice signage and displays in the store.

Happy Customer, Happy Retail

Can a happy shopping space contribute to happier lives? Our ongoing research shows that happy consumers shop in more places, spend more and say they are living their best lives. Our upcoming research results can help retailers and brands create that space, more efficiently.

Contact us for a presentation on how to make your shopping culture become a caring culture. Read our report, “The Impact of TLC (Trust. Loyalty. Caring.) on Retail Sales,” here.

By Noor Lobad, NOVEMBER 19, 2024 || A Publication of WWD (Women’s Wear Daily)
Gen Z is the only cohort whose beauty spend is growing in units, per NIQ – and the race for their loyalty is intensifying among a growing number of retail players.

The beauty retailer race for Gen Z’s hearts and wallets is heating up.

As more members of the cohort age into their spending power – which will reach $3 trillion by 2030, according to NIQ – the number of retailers vying for their beauty spend, too, is climbing.

On one hand, big-box retailers like Target and Walmart are betting bigger on the category, bringing buzzy brands to their assortments and, in the case of the former, implementing Ulta Beauty shops-in-shop in more than 500 doors. Digital retailers like Amazon and TikTok Shop, too, are growing at record speed, particularly among young consumers thanks to their respective strengths of convenience and discovery.

Meanwhile, competition between the category’s biggest specialty retailers – Sephora and Ulta – has never been more stiff.

In fact, in 2023 Sephora dethroned Ulta for the first time as Gen Z’s number-one beauty retailer of choice, according to Piper Sandler’s semi-annual Taking Stock With Teens Survey, nabbing 37 percent of share while Ulta garnered 32 percent – a 10 percent drop versus 2022. In the survey’s latest fall 2024 iteration, the effect was compounded, with Sephora again taking the top spot at 36 percent, while Ulta dropped another five points at 27 percent.

But Sephora’s not the only retailer Ulta is ceding Gen Z market share to: At 13 percent, Target gained four points this fall, while Amazon and Walmart both jumped from 5 percent to 7 percent during the same period.

“This isn’t a one-takes-all market,” said Korinne Wolfmeyer, vice president and senior equity research analyst, beauty and wellness, at Piper Sandler. “With Gen Z, what we’re seeing more and more is that they diversify far more than any other generation.”

While data from Circana shows the 18- to 24-year-old consumer tends toward the specialty beauty channel – contributing 1 percent of its sales year-to-date, nearly double the 6 percent share they comprise of the remaining beauty market – value is high priority for the cohort, and data also indicates they’ll take it wherever they find it.

“Budgets are a big concern for this age group, and because this is a savvy consumer that is accustomed to doing their homework and getting recommendations via social media, the outlet becomes perhaps less important than the idea of the product,” said Jacqueline Flam Stokes, senior vice president of beauty, drug and over-the-counter retail at NIQ.

According to NIQ, only 56 percent of Gen Z shoppers have a specific brand in mind when purchasing beauty products, versus 67 percent of non-Gen Z shoppers.

“Searching by ingredient is so huge now – the consumer might go to the store knowing they want a hyaluronic acid serum, but the brand is just less important to them,” said Anna Mayo, NIQ’s vice president of beauty, adding that private label brands have benefited from this shift, ranking as the top “brand” in the mass market by both dollar and unit sales among Gen Z.

“Fundamentally, Gen Z has grownup with lots of choice – and that’s what they choose to wield when it comes to shopping,”

said Wendy Liebmann, Chief Executive Officer of WSL Strategic Retail.

While this makes the stakes for retailer loyalty higher than ever, data indicates there are key nuances in the way Gen Z shops via different channels.

Few know this better than Shai Eisenman, founder and CEO of Gen Z-loved skincare brand, Bubble. Since debuting in 2020 at Walmart, the under-$20 line has increased its door count to more than 10,000, entering CVS Pharmacy in 2022; Ulta in 2023, and Priceline and Boots in Australia and the U.K., respectively, this year.

“We see each of our retailers as a very different trip for the consumer,” said Eisenman, adding that the brand’s core cleanser and moisturizer offerings over-index at Walmart, while treatment products sell more at Ulta and acne care comprises the top-performers at CVS Pharmacy.

“We don’t even see it as competitive, because we show up differently at each retail environment; Walmart is the story about accessibility, Ulta is the story about fun and exploration, and CVS is where we talk more about the clinical side,” Eisenman said.

For Eisenman, “the most interesting thing about Gen Z is they feel like the first generation that doesn’t view price point as a signal of quality – they understand that quality comes at different price points, and at different points of sale.”

It’s an understanding that even a prestige brand like Benefit Cosmetics – which sits at a significantly higher price point than Bubble but has similarly struck cross-channel resonance with Gen Z – is leveraging to its advantage.

“We know Gen Z only buys what they think is worth it – that doesn’t mean they’re predisposed to mass brands or cheaper products – it means they’re value-focused; if they think it’s worth the money, they’ll make the purchase,” said Toto Haba, senior vice president of global omnichannel marketing at Benefit.

The brand was one of the earliest beauty companies to launch on TikTok Shop in the U.S. in 2023, adding the social commerce platform to its existing retailer lineup of Sephora, Ulta and its direct-to-consumer website and brow bars.

“Between Sephora and Ulta, our product mix is somewhat similar, but on TikTok Shop, we see our trending products sell-through much more,” said Haba, pointing to the brand’s hybrid lip and cheek tint, Benetint, as one such oft-trending product on the platform.

For instance, to coincide with a “jelly donut” blush trend the brand spearheaded this summer, Benefit bundled the tint with its High Beam Liquid Highlighter in a TikTok-exclusive kit priced at $35 ($52 value), of which more than 20,000 units have since been sold.

“We’re making sure we’re highly visible where Gen Z discovers beauty and shops,” said Haba, adding that the effort is paying off: “We’re seeing Gen Z spend grow faster than the rate of our total business.”

The trend tracks with that of the industry at large: Even though Gen Z only comprises 9 percent of all beauty spend, it is the only cohort achieving year-over-year unit growth in the category, per NIQ.

For Benefit, a significant portion of the cohort’s spend is coming from Sephora, which shares the same parent company, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

“The two retailers that it feels are winning the bulk of Gen Z are Sephora and TikTok,” said Haba, adding that Ulta is “winning them in a different way: its key thing is that high-low assortment, which Gen Z really gravitates toward.”

Ulta is also Benefit’s exclusive partner for its brow bar services, which “attract a slightly older clientele than our product-only mix.”

Said Haba: “One of Sephora’s key strengths in converting Gen Z shoppers is that it’s so highly visible on social. It made a massive commitment early on to engage with the creator community and build the Sephora Squad, and that has given them this leg up in the space.”

Indeed, data from Tubular Labs and Gen Z research firm Dedx shows that engagement of user-generated TikTok content mentioning Sephora nearly quadruples that of content mentioning Ulta, with Sephora garnering 1.8 billion engagements from 2022 through 2024, versus Ulta’s 506 million.

This is a significant shift from 2020 through 2022, when the retailers netted near-identical engagement levels of 295 million (Sephora) and 294 million (Ulta).

Data from CreatorIQ, too, shows that in comparison to Ulta, Target, Walmart and Amazon, Sephora took the top spot by year-to-date TikTok earned media value growth at 32 percent. Walmart came in second at 23 percent growth, followed by Ulta at 16 percent while Target and Amazon saw respective 15 percent inclines.

With that being said, Amazon (including its non-beauty offerings) takes the top retailer spot by total TikTok EMV, with TikTok Shop trailing in second place and Sephora in third.

In terms of why Sephora indexes so highly on TikTok, “It’s mainly a volume thing – there’s a greater prevalence of Sephora-specific content versus Ulta-specific content,” said Alex Rawitz, CreatorIQ’s director of research and insights, adding there is an indication that Sephora “has kind of permeated pop culture, or the zeitgeist, to a greater degree than Ulta.”

Beyond social savvy, Sephora was also a first-mover with Gen Z-favorite brands like Rare Beauty, Charlotte Tilbury and Sol de Janeiro – the latter two which have more recently entered Ulta as well.

But even the retailers’ shared brands tend to tag Sephora in social content more often than they do Ulta. For instance, Fenty Beauty drove $20.4 million EMV for Sephora this year via its owned channel versus $14.9 million for Ulta. Sol de Janeiro drove $7.1 million EMV for Sephora versus $2.8 million for Ulta during the same period.

“Sephora is kind of a feedback loop; it’s growing because it’s where the brands that you want to talk about are, and those brands, in turn, are growing because Sephora can act as a megaphone for them and amplify their message,” Rawitz said.

This matters because, as Flam Stokes put it: “There’s a direct correlation between the basket size for Gen Z and the size of the social outreach related – whether that be the size of Ulta’s following, Sephora’s following, or even Target or Amazon’s, and how much investment they’re putting into their influencer and social media pushes.”

When it comes to TikTok Shop – which went from being the ninth-largest beauty retailer in the U.S. in the spring to permeating the top-five this fall – categories seeing the most traction include facial skin care, hair tools and accessories, fragrance and eye makeup, particularly faux lash clusters, per NIQ.

About 17.1 percent of the platform’s shoppers are in the 18 to 24 age group, versus 13.7 percent at Ulta and 12.3 percent at Sephora. Lower-income and Hispanic consumers also over-index on the platform, where the average price point is “under $20 – so it’s really that impulse-purchase zone,” said Flam Stokes.

Leslie Ann Hall, founder and CEO of TikTok Shop’s first beauty agency partner Iced Media, said the platform is primarily being used as a discovery channel, and not so much a replenishment channel – meaning it isn’t cannibalizing brands’ other retailers.

“We’re actually seeing a halo effect, where if a brand is trending on TikTok Shop, they’re going to see an uptick of sales for that same product at Ulta, Sephora, Amazon, and their own e-commerce channel,” said Hall, who has brought brands including Dieux, Moroccanoil and more to the platform.

“It remains to be seen what loyalty looks like on TikTok Shop, but we are seeing that it’s very disruptive in terms of consumer dollars,” said Flam Stokes.

Meanwhile, Amazon, a longtime replenishment channel thanks to its convenience and speed, is gaining share as a discovery channel specifically among Gen Z, according to Melis del Rey, Amazon’s general manager of U.S. stores, beauty, baby and beauty technology.

“Gen Z’s mode of exploration is through trend-led search,” said del Rey, pointing to K-beauty and skin care’s “beef tallow” craze as recent trends that have fueled searches and subsequent sales on Amazon.

The platform has added more than 300 beauty brands on Amazon so far this year, including several in The Estée Lauder Cos. family such as Dr.Jart+ and Too Faced, as well as buzzy indies like Topicals and Prados Beauty.

“As TikTok Shop and Amazon continue to get more brands on their platform, there’s not going to be just one winner,” Wolfmeyer said. “Sephora and Ulta will likely continue being the top two (retailers] among Gen Z, though they may alternate positions depending on the year and what’s going on with the various brands they’re carrying, but you’re going to see the margins start to shrink – Walmart is going to step up a bit, Amazon is going to step up a bit, and so on.”

Added Liebmann:

“The thing to remember about Gen Z is they’re not one monolithic group: they have nuances, and even if your target audience is not Gen Z, there’s a lot to be learned from the brands and retailers which are doing well with that audience.

Their core issues of caring about value, the right product mix, feeling included in the conversation – those are becoming more important for consumers of all generations.”

Visit WWD for the full article.

By James Manso, NOVEMBER 12, 2024 || A Publication of WWD (Women’s Wear Daily)

Try to copy Charlotte Tilbury and you’ll be met with an error message — and a humorous social media rebuttal.

In a TikTok the brand posted last month showing a bottle of the brand’s Hollywood Flawless Filter wedged into a photocopier, the machine then spat out papers with messages like “Error! Copy impossible,” and “Legends cannot be copied.”

The comments from TikTok users, however, tell a different story. “I have [E.l.f. Cosmetics] because Charlotte Tilbury is over my budget,” one comment read.

“[MCoBeauty Flawless Glow] is better,” read another that had 319 likes. The reel itself had more than 57,000 likes and 200 comments.

Indeed, Charlotte Tilbury is one of a handful of brands contending with dupe culture — the TikTok-fueled phenomenon where consumers look to find inexpensive mimicries of industry hero products. Last year, Olaplex inaugurated a campaign refuting that its many patents could be legally replicated in cheaper formulas. Regardless, the trend now spans categories, with both brands and retailers taking note.

“It’s always been around, but it’s picked up momentum in the last couple of years, since TikTok became popular during the pandemic,” said Emilie Hood, an analyst at Euromonitor, who attributes the rise of dupes to two key factors.

“Irrespective of where you are in the world, everyone’s budgets have been impacted by COVID, inflation and geopolitical issues. There’s also a gamification where consumers enjoy trying to find dupes,” she said. “It’s tough for the brands that are being duped because they are investing in innovation and new ideas, there’s so much funding. But dupes are good for the democratization of beauty.”

At the same time, the stigma around dupes has dissipated, which has also helped their rise.

“About eight years ago, dupe culture was taking off from YouTube creators who were publicizing cheaper alternatives to more high-end beauty products,” said Alex Rawitz, director of research and insights, CreatorIQ. “It’s now a viable concept.

The key switch has been that it’s not just creators who are propagating the concept — brands themselves have now leaned in. It’s a legitimate concept by which a brand can make itself known in the market.”

Per CreatorIQ data, the top beauty brands being duped by earned media value include Charlotte Tilbury, Rare Beauty and Sol de Janeiro; others mentioned with the word “dupe” include E.l.f. Cosmetics, L’Oréal Paris, MCoBeauty, Maybelline New York, Bath & Body Works and Milani.

“For a brand that is being duped, or you’re having other brands put out dupe versions of your own products, it’s wise to lean into it,” Rawitz said. “As we’re seeing from our market research, dupe phenomenon is a rising tide, and as a brand, you don’t want to lean away from any popular conversation on social media. It’s not a controversy your brand is being duped. It shows a sense of desirability that people want this product and can’t necessarily afford it.”

MCoBeauty, which hails from Australia, came Stateside less than a year ago. “We are still a baby in the U.S., but we’re very ahead of our growth curve. We’re growing extraordinarily fast,” said Meridith Rojas, chief marketing officer of MCoBeauty. “We’re starting to break onto the scene through the same recipe that worked in Australia, and that’s leaning into dupe culture. That’s not all we are, but it’s a big part of who we are.”

Nodding to a TikTok post wherein Bethenny Frankel called the brand the “Steve Madden of beauty,” Rojas said the brand is more informed by consumer habits than anything else. “We’re the first to take [duping] to a place and really say what it is that people want. They want the formula, they want the 360-degree luxury experience in addition to a luxury product.

That’s where we’re gaining cult-like status.” A quick scroll through MCoBeauty’s bestsellers page on its website shows its Flawless Glow Luminous Skin Filter, with a beveled cap akin to Charlotte Tilbury’s; its Miracle Anti-Aging Repair Serum, in a square, brown apothecary bottle that resembles Estée Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Multi-Recovery Complex; or the rectangular bottles of Super Glow Bronzing Drops and Blush Drops that share similar shapes to the format introduced by Drunk Elephant.

“First of all, we’re very careful and making sure that we can do everything that we do,” Rojas said. “The speed at which we’re able to turn an idea into reality or a comment into a product is extremely fast when it comes to industry standards. I often say accessibility is the new innovation.”

In some cases, Hood reasoned, dupe culture could move the needle for the industry in ways beyond sales. “L’Oréal does a lot of partnerships with ingredient companies to develop more sustainable ingredients. If that technology becomes more broad and filters down to the wider industry, that’s brilliant,” she said. “But there is a danger of the industry getting a bit stale.”

“We haven’t had a huge breakthrough chemical in a long time,” agreed Susan Scafidi, founder of the Fashion Law Institute. “It’s about reformulations and innovation at the margins rather than a huge paradigm shift, and the extent to which those things can be copied and diluted.”

In the U.S. specifically, dupe culture doesn’t necessarily have adverse effects on the brands being mimicked, according to industry experts.

“The item that’s being duped doesn’t necessarily lose sales,” said Larissa Jensen, senior vice president of beauty and industry adviser at Circana. “The consumer who can afford the original is going to continue to buy the original. The consumer who can’t will buy the less expensive item. It’s two different consumers.”

But globally, the picture is murkier. “Where the original brands miss out is where that price is high enough that it becomes inaccessible,” said Hood. “It needs to be significantly better to warrant a high price, and it needs to speak to that premium level. And there needs to be an extra benefit of consumers sticking with it.”

Legally speaking, in the U.S. “we’re dealing in the trademark realm,” Scafidi said. “It comes down to if the dupes are imitating the original product in such a way that consumers will be confused. Dupes that are one step further away, the beauty equivalent to a look-for-less, is annoying to brands because it does induce consumers to trade down. But if the consumer isn’t confused about what they’re getting, it’s not actually illegal.”

Scafidi acknowledged that dupe culture exists on a spectrum with “absolute counterfeits” on one end to brands drawing comparisons and reinterpreting packaging in more subtle ways. “In dupe culture, we have evolved past the illegalities to free-ride on the brand in a way that is technically legal.”

That even includes naming duped products in packaging and marketing, which is legal if used only to draw a comparison, Scafidi said. “It’s nominative fair use,” she said. “If you’re just using the name and you’re using it for comparison purposes, technically, that is legal.”

Such examples include fragrance brand Dossier, which mentions the juices that inspired its product assortment on its website. “Inspired by [Maison Francis Kurkdjian]’s Baccarat Rouge 540,” says a description of the brand’s Ambery Saffron. The brand’s website says its Woody Sandalwood scent is “inspired by Le Labo’s Santal 33.”

Skincare Generics’ products, for example, have “Compare to: La Mer Crème de La Mer” on one moisturizer; and “Compare to: Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream” on another. For Walgreens’ new Premium Skin Care range which debuted in September, its Moisturizing Facial Cream says “Compare to: Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream.”

“We know there’s a demand for top-tier skin care solutions that don’t break the bank,” said Heather Hughes, group vice president and general merchandise manager of health and beauty, Walgreens, of the brand’s genesis. “Compared to the current price of similar premium skin care products, Walgreens Premium Skin Care products are at least 50 percent less expensive.”

Wendy Liebmann, founder and chief executive of WSL Strategic Retail, noted that the phenomenon isn’t new, and also doesn’t see it as taboo.

“In the beauty industry, it just brings more eyes and more sales,” she said. “The more people who have the opportunity to engage in beauty at whatever price point, the better for the industry at large.”

The challenges for retailers ultimately come down to speed. “It’s a bit of a nightmare,” Hood said. “Rather than dupes specifically, the trend cycle speeding up so much is the difficulty. The planning and deciding throughout is difficult.”

Liebmann concurred that the issue was bigger than dupe products for retailers.

“It’s not a dupe discussion — it’s the Instagram and TikTok discussion. We now have a media that’s controlled by the consumer, and the challenge that retailers have in general is the ability to see what’s hot.”

“You need to have a supply chain and marketing operation that says ‘this is hot.’ And you have to have space designated and ready to go, as opposed to waiting for 12 months to see what can fit on a shelf.”

Visit WWD for the full article.

Under-the-radar retail channels such as TikTok, Instagram and marijuana dispensaries are eating up market share in the health and wellness category, our preliminary How America Shops® research suggests. If retailers and brands don’t respond to this threat soon, they’ll suffer the side effects. But we see opportunity.

Invisible Channels are Rerouting Established Retail Paths

From TikTok and Instagram video feeds to legalized marijuana dispensaries, emerging forms of retail channels are siphoning off sales from traditional shopping outlets. And these “invisible” routes are poised to capture visible market share.

Why not, when millions of Americans are spending more time with such channels? TikTok counts more than , and they spend an average of nearly one hour a day on the social media platform (up from 27 minutes in 2019). Meanwhile, more than 100 million people in the U.S. watch Instagram Live video feeds every day.

And 74% of Americans now live in a state where marijuana is legal for either recreational or medical use, Pew Research reports. As of early 2024, nearly 15,000 marijuana dispensaries operated in the U.S. Not surprisingly, Statista predicts the U.S. cannabis market to climb to $50 billion by 2029, from $43 billion in 2024.

These “Niche” Routes are Poised to Invade Mass Categories

Here’s the real threat – or opportunity – for traditional retail outlets: These uprising channels are poised to capture sales in the burgeoning health and wellness categories, where brands and retailers are investing sizeable sums.

For example, we’re already seeing a looming threat – or opportunity – in the wellness and vitamin categories. More than 40% of Gen Zers and 55% of Millennials – leading users of TikTok, Instagram and marijuana dispensaries – take vitamins or supplements regularly, according to our How America Shops® report, “Shoppers’ View of the Future of Health.”

And 50% of all consumers in our survey told us they believe marijuana and CBD contribute to overall wellness.

So It’s Logical These Wellness Categories and Channel Paths Will Cross

In short, these “invisible” channels are slowly rerouting established retail paths. If shoppers start buying vitamins on TikTok or seeking stress relief at marijuana dispensaries, it’s a threat to traditional channel and category sales.

For context, consider these findings from our How America Shops® research:

Retailers and Brands Have the Resources to Compete

WSL is soon going to survey shoppers on which categories they are willing to buy from TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat. Until then, we have three suggestions for retailers and brands as they plan their category marketing:

1. Use information to gain trust among marijuana shoppers.

Rather than trying to go head-to-head on price and promotions, brands and retailers can gain trust by building strategies regarding the effectiveness, reliability and safety of their brands. Education about the safety of over-the-counter products for sleep and pain can be especially valuable.

2. Offer mental wellness support from social platforms.

Research suggests that Instagram and TikTok contribute to anxiety, depression and addictive behaviors. Brands and retailers can get in front of this challenge by offering products that serve as stress-relieving alternatives to social media. They can even promote mental wellness on social media platforms and become a resource to potentially anxious users.

3. Recognize the divide between the “haves” and “have-nots.”

Most consumers want to live a healthier life, but the cost of it can be out of reach for many. In fact, 72% of shoppers told us they prefer to live healthy in ways that don’t cost money. Retailers and brands can capture this majority with non-premium products and services, many of which already exist but are not promoted for wellness. For example, drugstore chains can introduce endcaps or aisle sections dedicated to small-sized, affordable medications.

Retailers and brands need to follow how their customers shop these channels, before the “invisible” erosion they cause becomes evident. The good news is we’re already tracking them, and we will continue to.

Now’s the time to turn a potential threat into an opportunity. Stay tuned.

WSL follows the shopper into new categories and channels all year round. If you’re interested in tailored research for your channel or category, or are trying to better connect with a specific consumer group, contact WSL’s consulting group here.

By Scot Meyer, OCTOBER 16, 2024 || A Publication of MMR (Mass Market Retailers)

NEW YORK — Today’s consumers want easy ways to improve their health that are also affordable and accessible, and a recent Virtual Retail Safari® hosted by WSL Strategic Retail highlighted some of the innovative retailers that are stepping up with solutions.

Led by Maryann Javier, VP of Creative Services at WSL, the presentation highlighted the importance of understanding shoppers’ evolving health needs and the strategies companies are using to stay ahead.

“We tell you that if you follow the shopper, you will see the future,” Javier said. “And that’s what we do. We help you build shopper-centric growth strategies for the future. And we do this by understanding the why and what comes next.”

A WSL How America Shops® study focused on the Future of Health found a real need for innovation in the retail health and wellness space. Only a third of Americans rate their health as “excellent” or “very good,” according to the study, WSL CEO and Chief Shopper Wendy Liebmann explained, noting that the figure has dropped significantly since 2020. With financial pressures at an all-time high, many consumers — particularly younger shoppers, households with children, and lower-income families —struggle to prioritize their health. Stress remains the No. 1 obstacle, with nearly 40% of consumers identifying it as a significant barrier to living healthier lives.

Against this background, WSL’s Virtual Retail Safari® detailed some ways retailers are reimagining how they can support consumers’ health needs. That includes some retailers that are not typically thought of as operating in the healthcare space. As an example, Katie Hornsby, Retail Innovation Consultant at WSL, pointed to IKEA. The furniture retailer recently hosted a sleep-focused pop-up event in New York City. By showcasing such practical solutions as adjustable mattresses, white noise machines, and clutter-free environments, IKEA helped promote solutions to help consumers enhance their sleep, which is vital to health.

“The key was to help shoppers understand why they’re not sleeping well, what’s causing their stress and how to solve for it, Hornsby said. “And then of course, to get them to shop at Ikea.”

The Vitamin Shoppe, meanwhile, has pivoted towards addressing the needs of consumers seeking weight management solutions, including new pharmaceuticals like the GLP-1 drugs. The retailer has created a one-stop shop with nutritional supplements, education on weight loss drugs’ potential side effects, and affordable pricing options. The aim is to provide holistic support for consumers looking to improve their health.

Mental health is another area where retailers are stepping up. Rituals, a global beauty and wellness brand, has redefined urban well-being with its “Mind Oasis” concept, offering affordable mental relaxation treatments in-store. These treatments, such as hydro massages and sound therapy, cater to stressed consumers seeking quick and affordable mental health breaks, showing how wellness can be integrated into everyday life.

Happy Coffee, a company founded on the principle of improving mental health, has a unique partnership with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). By giving NAMI an equity stake in the company, Happy Coffee has made mental health support a core part of its brand identity, highlighting how businesses can build trust with consumers by aligning with social causes.

Companies must continue to innovate to stay competitive in the health and wellness sector. As Liebmann pointed out, successful companies will offer a combination of solutions, services, and savings—the “three S’s.” This means not only offering products but also providing services like personalized care, accessible online resources, and seamless shopping experiences.

Retail giants like Amazon are already leading the way with initiatives like Amazon Pharmacy, which delivers medications directly to consumers’ doors. This convenience and competitive pricing make Amazon a formidable player in the healthcare space, as it continues to build trust with its vast customer base.

WSL sees trust as the overarching theme in today’s health and wellness retail landscape. Consumers are no longer content with just being offered products to buy; they expect holistic solutions that address their needs comprehensively. Whether it’s managing stress, improving mental health, or tackling weight management, businesses that create innovative, accessible, and affordable solutions will be the winners.

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By Scot Meyer, OCTOBER 9, 2024 || A Publication of MMR (Mass Market Retailers)

“If you have an interest in what the future holds for this industry, you’re in the right place today,” said Ed Morgan, president of The Emerson Group.

LONDON — The Emerson Group kicked off its “Future of Commerce 2030” series this week with an event here that was live-streamed to retail and supplier executives in the United States and elsewhere.

Ed Morgan, president of The Emerson Group, explained that the event was designed to build on the kind of thought leadership the company has offered for 16 years with its annual Industry Day sessions, “but we’re going to take it into the future. We’re going to focus on driving success, challenge the norms and envision the future. We’ll delve into the macro trends of retail, of brands, of consumer technology and of leadership. So if you have an interest in what the future holds for this industry, you’re in the right place today and you’re in the right place on your computer today watching us virtually.”

Morgan noted that the London event, which was hosted by MMR, Chain Drug Review, and WSL Strategic Retail, along the with The Emerson Group, will be followed by four events in 2025. In early February 2025 there will be an event with Walmart’s leadership in Bentonville, Ark. That will be followed by an event in Seattle in May with Costco’s leadership team, and then one in October 2025 in Woonsocket, R.I., with CVS Health’s leadership team.

All of the events will be focused on the future of the retail on consumer packaged goods industries, and the London event that launched the series was no exception. It started with a presentation on the “Future of the Consumer Landscape” by Jacqueline Windsor, partner in strategy and deals for consumer markets and U.K. head of retail at PwC.

Windsor detailed some of the differences between consumers in the United Kingdom and their counterparts in the United States, noting that the U.K. is less ethnically diverse, and consumers there are served by significantly fewer square feet of shopping space per capita than Americans. Stores in the U.K. are smaller, and value retailers and private label brands play a much larger role.

She also described the way the consumer landscape in the U.K., now and in the future, is being impacted by the different “tribes” of consumers there. The Next Gen Consumer, for example, will be the largest generation in history, with members who have a more progressive mindset, a focus on personal identity and self-expression, and an interest in shopping journeys that are immersive, experiential, shareable.

Then there are the aging consumers who have disproportionate wealth, independent and active lifestyles, and higher loyalty to brands and retailers. Or the “inclusive” tribe of consumers focused on body positivity, diversity and gender fluidity, who seek authentic representation and tailored products and experiences.

Among the other highlights of the inaugural session of the Future of Commerce 2030 Series was a panel discussion on the future of retail that featured executives of leading United Kingdom retailers. Moderated by Wendy Liebmann, chief executive officer and chief shopper of WSL Strategic Retail, panelists including Alex Gourlay, executive chair of Holland Barrett; Matthew Barnes, chief executive officer of Tesco U.K.; and Marco Kormann Rodrigues, partner leader of retail and CPG for Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Liebmann pointed out that, despite the explosive growth of e-commerce in recent years, consumers still plainly want to go to stores, and posed the question of what the role of the brick-and-mortar store will be in the new age. Barnes, who served with Aldi Group for 26 years before joining Tesco earlier this year, acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic triggered huge growth in e-commerce for Tesco, but maintained that many of the fundamentals of retail remain largely unchanged.

“Customers still want great value, they want convenience, they want quality and they want good service,” he said. “So I don’t think that has fundamentally changed. But I think the impact of the discounters, which was quite a bit later in the U.K. than in other European countries, has shaken things up a bit and enabled Tesco to focus on what really are the core fundamentals — coming back to that price, quality and service.”

For example, Tesco’s Club Card, which debuted decades ago, has been reinvigorated and the retailer is offering an Aldi Price Match targeting some 800 lines as well as 8,000 Club Card prices. More than ever, customers want great value, Barnes said, and it is critical that Tesco get that combination of price and quality right, particularly when customers are better informed than ever.

With multiple generations active in the workplace, leaders have to consider how to create an effective work culture, which is no easy task. Steve Anderson, president and CEO of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, led a discussion featuring Claire Hannah, chief customer & digital commerce officer for Unilever; Manoj Raghunandanan, managing director of Kenvue for northern Europe; and Sebastian James, managing director of Boots PLC.  James argued that there is no way to “make” a culture. Boots, which was founded 175 years ago, has a culture that was averse to change, he pointed out.

“I tried to explore why, and I came to the conclusion a bit reluctantly that the reason was that everyone in the organization was desperately afraid of disappointing Jesse Boots, who had been dead for 100 years,” he said.

Store visits in London were an important part of the program and one that furnished surprise and delight. Boots, Holland Barrett and Tesco locations all were praised as being “at least as good as anything we have in the U.S.”

Visit MMR for the full article.

Today’s average household is leaning toward a new population of Hispanics, Boomers, multigenerational dwellers and singles. What retail channels do these demographic segments prefer to shop, and which retail brands? We dug into our 2024 How America Shops® population survey to find out.

Are You Merchandising for These New Consumer Households?

Forget about the “nuclear” family. In 2024, the typical household is better described as the “new” American family. Consider these seismic demographic shifts that define today’s American home and will require adjustments to your marketing strategy.

• Single people occupy nearly 29% of U.S. homes, representing about 38 million solo households, the Census reports. Nearly 7 million people younger than 65 live in single households.
• Trendsetting Boomers who accepted new categories and signed on for digital tools (never to be left behind the newest trends) now represent more than 17% of the population. And every day an additional 12,000 people turn 65. By the end of 2030, all Boomers will be older than 65.
• One in five people live in a multi-generational households, formed in part by adult children putting off marriage and not moving out. According to U.S. Census reports from 2021, 33% of consumers ages 18 to 34 lived with their parents. Senior adults moving in with their kids represent the other factor.
• The US birth rate is driven by Hispanics. One in four U.S. children identify as Hispanic, revealing a higher birth rate among this population – 41%, compared with 36% of Caucasians.

These different households generate a new mixed bag of shopping needs and preferences, and the changes are unfolding rapidly across retail.

These Seismic Shifts Require New Retail Strategies

After completing our 2024 How America Shops® study, “Seismic Population Shifts,” we were struck by the extent to which the changes in American households influence retail and product choices. Here’s what we found.

The New Consumer Path: Where 4 Populations Shop Most

We recently asked shoppers to tell us which channels they purchased from in the previous three months, and which retailers they chose within each channel. Here they are cross-referenced by demographics across nine channels.

The first figure references the percentage of each household that shops the channel, followed by selected retailers. Many stores known for competitive prices pop up repeatedly. Brands should be sure they products are on the shelves in these retailers.

4 Population Behaviors You Need to Know to Develop a Shopping Strategy

Our research also surfaced behavioral findings from our How America Shops® report. They offer valuable insight into how to planogram stores and promote categories.

1. Multi-generational frugality will continue.

Households that span generations are less optimistic about their financial futures than solo households – 44% are pessimistic, vs. 36% of single person households. It’s likely then that these consumers will continue to be cautious spenders because they have so many mouths to feed as well caregiving.

Imagine a household with younger adults hanging around and older adults who need care moving in. This is a high-stress environment for even calm shoppers. How can you make their trips more affordable and easier?

2. Expect the unexpected from Hispanic consumers.

Hispanic shoppers are the least likely of any population we tracked to stick to a shopping list. This may be due to having more children, which introduces unplanned purchases, and they focus on their pets (12 to 26 percentage points more than other households).

Customize convenience for this child-rich, pet-rich, busy population. For example, Hispanic consumers are more likely to have food delivered, even if it costs more, because they simply don’t have the time to pick up the pizza.

3. Mass merchants are frequented more than supermarkets.

While 95% to 99% of these four populations shop supermarkets, they visit big box stores like Walmart and Target more often.

Mass merchandisers attract 58% of their shoppers weekly, compared with 50% of shoppers at supermarkets. Nearly 40% of consumers say they shop Walmart more now than a year ago; 29% shop Target more often. What reasons can supermarkets use to entice these frequent shoppers to come back to their stores weekly?

4. Diverse households shop the dollar channel more.

Twice as many shoppers visit dollar stores more often, vs. less often, than a year ago. Four in 10 hit the channel weekly.

Dollar stores attract consumers for value. Retailers could benefit from having their own dollar sections (like Target’ Dollar Spot or Bullseye’s Playground). Brands can ensure they are on the shelf in the dollar channel.

You Can Keep Pace with Your New Population. Let Us Help

Your consumer households are changing from what you know and require a different shopper and retail strategy. How will you anticipate these shifts to ensure brand and retail growth? Learn more on these upcoming population that are reshaping strategy in our report, Seismic Population Shifts. To learn more about our consulting services, click here.

By Kathryn Hopkins, AUGUST 16, 2024 || A Publication of WWD [Women’s Wear Daily]

As Amazon continues to beef up its beauty offering, beauty retailers of all shapes and sizes need to stand out from the crowd.

What a difference a few years can make.

Amazon, once the pariah of prestige beauty, is now viewed by some as its potential savior, but what does this mean for other beauty retailers?

The biggest turning point came in March when, after years of eschewing the platform, the Estée Lauder Cos. did an about turn and launched Clinique on Amazon with its own storefront. Since then, Too Faced and Bumble & Bumble have joined and Tracey Travis, Lauder’s departing chief financial officer, previously told WWD that the e-commerce platform has the potential to become an important distribution channel for the company.

Their launch followed L’Oréal, whose Luxe division was the first of the powerhouse prestige players to make the leap when it launched Lancôme last year. Since then, Kiehl’s, Youth to the People, IT Cosmetics, Urban Decay and Ralph Lauren Fragrances have followed suit.

Overall, in 2023, even before the Lauder brands joined, Amazon sold a billion-plus beauty products in the U.S. and currently there are more than 100,000 brands available in its beauty store. “Amazon Beauty is all about driving the category and the industry overall,” Melis del Rey, general manager, U.S. stores, beauty, baby and beauty technology at Amazon, said earlier this year at the WWD Beauty CEO Summit in May. “It’s all about net new incremental customers, and it’s net new incremental shopping opportunities for the brands that we work with.”

It also certainly has the ability to attract more brands, with more than 100 million unique beauty customers on its books. Morgan Stanley predicted that Amazon will take over from Walmart Inc. as the biggest beauty retailer in 2025.

As for what all this means for other beauty players in the space, this poses more of a risk to Ulta Beauty than LVMH-owned Sephora, according to a recent note by Jefferies analyst Ashley Helgans. Based on Jefferies’ estimates, Ulta’s prestige makeup business has a 16 percent brand overlap with Amazon’s premium beauty storefront, versus Sephora with 9 percent.

“A prestige brand refresh is needed, as many of the legacy prestige brands Ulta carries have added new distribution points in off-price as well as e-commerce,” Helgans said, noting that the retailer has been most challenged in prestige, while outpacing category growth in its mass business. She believes that promotions, which increased year-over-year, are expected to remain elevated.

When asked about competition in the digital space during its most recent earnings call, Ulta Beauty chief executive officer Dave Kimbell said: “One of the great things about our business is when we get our in-store guests shopping online, they increase their brand love, their brand connection and our share of wallet. Their spend goes up 2.5 times,” he said. “We see opportunity to continue to drive programs like communities and affiliates.”

Kimbell said that while promotions have increased, levels remain rational and that he expects promotional levels to be below 2019 for the year.

Amazon also continues to pressurize department stores, a slowing but still important distribution channel for beauty.

Macy’s has outlined plans to close 150 stores by end of 2026, leaving it with 350 “go forward stores.” That’s down from about 850 stores 15 years ago. For the remaining stores, it is piloting new activations including beauty services such as fragrance bottle engraving, and craft stations.

Others have taken a view that if you can’t beat it, join it. When Hudson’s Bay Co. reached an agreement to acquire the Neiman Marcus Group for $2.65 billion, bringing the Dallas-based luxury retailer together with the New York-based Saks Fifth Avenue as Saks Global, Amazon was revealed as a surprise investor in the deal.

Not much is known of the mechanics of the deal at this point, but HBC has said Amazon will work with Saks Global to “innovate on behalf of customers and brand partners following the close of the transaction.”

Lucie Greene, founder and chief executive officer at consultancy Light Years, believes that where brands cannot compete is Amazon’s infrastructure, so the Amazon stake in the Neiman Marcus/Saks deal is very timely.

“If you were to strip the branding away from Amazon deliveries, the experience and the speed and the convenience with which you receive Amazon packages is probably more luxurious than you would get from a Prada, where it would take like a week and then maybe it would be dropped off somewhere and not signed for properly,” she said. “If they’re able, in both beauty and luxury, to create an elevated version of that, with all that muscle power of their infrastructure and convenience, that’s really interesting.”

She added that this stake could also give Amazon access to data to better understand the luxury customer.

Where non-Amazon retailers do have some muscle to flex, though, is around storytelling and newness, said Greene. “[Amazon] is not necessarily the place to discover and play, although they’re making a lot of effort….I’m a repeat purchaser of YSL Touche Éclat on Amazon because I know I’ll get it the next day. Would I go to Amazon to discover a new blush? No.”

In this instance, beauty retailers with a physical presence need to make sure their stores are worth the trip and that their websites create editorial style buzz around products, experts said.

Wendy Liebmann, chief executive officer and chief shopper at WSL Strategic Retail, chimed in that while it is hard to compete with Amazon on infrastructure, other retailers must ensure that consumers can order, reorder and subscribe with ease.

“Can I buy the brand I want as easily at the regular retailer, as I might at Amazon?” she said. “That talks to the omnichannel success of the retailer, and some are better than others. Certainly, Sephora and Ulta have really reinforced their websites, as has Bluemercury. They’re doing a decent job, but some of the department stores are not so great.”

On prices, Liebmann said that the smart retailers won’t try to compete. Instead, they need to focus on bundles, newness, loyalty programs, samples, events and exclusivity.

“Those are the things that retailers really have to ramp up because once you start to get to, it’s all about low price and convenience, then Amazon wins,” she said.

One other area that they can also compete in is the fact that as of now, the majority of luxury beauty brands (think Chanel, Prada, Guerlain) are not currently on Amazon.

Whether we will see another seismic shift in luxury beauty joining Amazon, only time will tell.

Visit WWD for the full article.

By Kathryn Hopkins, JULY 9, 2024 || A Publication of WWD [Women’s Wear Daily]

Hudson’s Bay Co. reached an agreement last week to acquire the Neiman Marcus Group for $2.65 billion.

What has long been rumored became a reality last week.

Hudson’s Bay Co. reached an agreement to acquire the Neiman Marcus Group for $2.65 billion, bringing the Dallas-based luxury retailer together with the New York-based Saks Fifth Avenue as Saks Global. Amazon was also revealed as a surprise investor in the deal, which is pending approval by the Federal Trade Commission.

But what does this mean for beauty, of which department stores are a slowing but still important retail distribution channel?

“This merger could potentially have a very positive impact on the prestige beauty category,” said Edgar Huber, chief executive officer of Nest. “Saks has consistently proven over the last couple of years that they invest in the quality of their stores, have launched innovative retail-, hospitality-, shared workspace concepts, have modernized merchandising strategies and the assortment mix.”

He added that the most interesting aspect for him is the partnership with Amazon. “Amazon will work with Saks Global to ‘innovate on behalf of customers and brand partners following the close of the transaction,’ HBC said. That could involve logistical and digital upgrades.”

Recently, a slew of prestige brands, including Clinique, Bumble & Bumble, Too Faced and Kiehl’s, joined Amazon after years of eschewing it as beauty companies are now viewing it much more seriously as a distribution channel.

“We will have to see how this will unfold concretely but you could imagine substantial mutual benefits for both retailers in terms of access to luxury brands, targeted data mining, quality of online execution and DTC logistics,” Huber continued.

Revive Skin Care CEO Elana Drell-Szyfer told WWD that only time will tell how the deal impacts luxury beauty as the two businesses have a very different approach when it comes to beauty.

“There actually is a great cultural difference in how the two run their beauty businesses and truthfully, of late, I would say that the Saks business has been much more focused on how to drive business through digital,” she said. “But Saks has not leaned into as many branded in-store experiences and very important customer or brand ambassador in-store events in the way that Neiman’s does and fosters.”

Drell-Szyfer added that for a luxury beauty brand that is not in Ulta Beauty or Sephora, this also means there are now fewer points of distribution.

“There are fewer places really to scale your business as a luxury brand, and that’s not only with the consolidation of the two, but even with Neiman’s bankruptcy a few years ago, when they ended up closing 13 stores,” she said.

According to the Green Street real estate research firm, there are eight malls that have both a Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus store. Decisions could be made on closing the weaker of the two in certain locations, benefiting the remaining store.

Wendy Liebmann, chief executive officer and chief shopper at WSL Strategic Retail, also questioned whether the merger could impact a brand’s negotiating power.

“It may give Neiman’s a greater viability, and Saks a greater viability to be under one roof or under one company, but from a brand standpoint, the ability to negotiate, the ability to create a different, unique offer to a customer it’s a bit of a challenge,” she said.

“However, having said that, all the smart people I know in this world who worked in the space say to me, we really can’t justify that many luxury department stores in this country anymore.”

“So there’s two sides of the question,” she continued.

“Am I going to lose business because now I’m dealing with one company, one buyer, and my negotiating power will dissipate, or because now I’ve got one bigger, stronger company that actually has the resources to tell the story more effectively, does that make it easier? It’s probably a bit of both.”

Other sources discussed whether the merger would help Saks pay vendors on time.

At the end of last year, the Instagram account Estée Laundry posted that Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. had issued a directive that Saks is on credit hold for all Lauder brands, which include Tom Ford Beauty, Jo Malone, Bobbi Brown, MAC, La Mer and more. Some sources backed that up, while others said there was a passing credit dispute and that the beauty giant is still shipping Saks as usual. Shortly after, HBC raised $340 million in cash that can be used to bolster its retail operations.

One source said: “One would hope that it would get better, but I think the structure of financing a deal versus what your operating cash flow looks like is handled pretty separately.”

Visit WWD for the full article.

By James Manso, JULY 30, 2024 || A Publication of WWD [Women’s Wear Daily]

Despite larger societal factors giving pause, beauty industry leaders at Cosmoprof North America shared a cautiously sunny outlook on the sector’s performance.

As the beauty industry gathered at Cosmoprof North America in Las Vegas last week, the pervading outlook was optimistic, despite indications that the momentum of the last couple of years might be slowing.

Experts and analysts at the trade show reported a consumer who is more engaged than ever, even in the face of a turbulent retail environment, continued economic uncertainty and broader sociocultural issues, such as the impending U.S. presidential elections.

Beauty, though not immune, is still resilient against those headwinds, according to a Circana presentation. Prestige beauty is still the fastest-growing industry the firm tracks, though sales in mass and drug retailers declined due to store closures, according to the presentation. Prestige is predicted to grow through 2026, while the mass market will remain “soft, but steady,” with bright spots including skin care said Larissa Jensen, Circana’s beauty industry adviser, during the presentation.

Total U.S. beauty is up 2 percent, according to Circana, with prestige posting 8 percent gains and mass dipping 3 percent. Units in every category in prestige posted gains, while mass is declining, Jensen said, hinting at a larger premiumization trend.

“It’s the industry that’s growing much faster in terms of demand from consumers,” echoed Liza Rapay, vice president of Cosmoprof North America. When planning this year’s iteration, Rapay mined insights from retailers, buyers and visitors “to truly service the market. We know skin care, makeup and fragrance are growing, so we prioritized those.”

Those categories comprised nearly half of the floor’s space, with key trends being Gen Alpha-geared brands, hair brands focused on textured hair types and men’s grooming brands.

“The mix is getting bigger, and it’s getting better every time,” Rapay said. “We’re constantly evolving, and we’re not in a stagnant place.”

That was the mood on the retail front as well. “We’re delighted to see such strong guest engagement within the beauty category, especially as we continue to evolve our assortment,” said Muffy Clince, senior director of emerging brands and initiatives at Ulta Beauty. “As we look ahead to the rest of the year, we know beauty will continue to fuel self care, self expression and joy.”

Though the annual gathering is focused on North America, the global assortment of exhibitors marked the resurgence of K-beauty and French Girl beauty, Clince noted.

That was a dynamic picked up by other retailers, as well. “K-beauty is making a comeback with new and different formulations,” said Jaclyn Diamond, omni buyer at Macy’s Inc. “The largest conversations I’ve had are around brands coming out of Korea into the U.S. SPF is also huge and only getting bigger.”

Diamond was also homing in on hair care at the show. “We’ve focused on building out this hair care division, and the customer’s reaction is extremely strong,” she said. “We love that we can bring our customers something new in a category that they’re not used to buying in a department store. It’s bringing in multiple purchases and multiple visits.”

Gen Alpha’s buying power was also on full display, with bright packaging and buzzy formats coming to the fore. One brand exhibiting at the show, Mixik Skin, for example, offers a cleanser, toner, serum and mositurizer all in a mist format, which range in price from $25 to $29 each. Inked By Dani, on the other hand, launched a scented temporary tattoo collaboration with Phlur in tandem with the show. Those retail at $15 per pack.

“Gen Alpha absorbs media very differently than Gen Z or Millennials, so we’re thinking about how much they care about their skin and body even younger than past generations,” Diamond said.

Shoppers are getting younger across the board. “Our customer used to be around 30 or 35, and now she’s 25. We’re getting a lot of college kids,” said Ian Ginsberg, owner of C. O. Bigelow. “Kids are getting younger and younger, and they’re just now discovering beauty.”

Driving that discovery was another key theme — for retailers and the trade show itself. Rapay announced Beauty New York, a Cosmoprof North America Event, which will be a consumer-friendly iteration of the trade show to take place in New York in fall 2025.

“We’ve been working on this for over three years,” Rapay said. “With the success of Cosmoprof Miami [held for the first time in January], we knew we were only missing the consumer piece. The U.S. is the biggest beauty market in the world, and New York is the beauty capital of America. Corporate brands will be able to showcase innovation and connect with consumers.”

Still, while the outlook is generally positive, analysts are warning that external factors could potentially put a dent in the market.

“When things get chaotic — socially, politically and economically — it’s a bit like the stock market. People get nervous,”

said Wendy Liebmann, chief executive officer of WSL Strategic Retail. “That’s when they tend to pull back. The underlying concern is about the financial situation for many Americans. That doesn’t put a damper on essentials, but it does on the attitude of adventure and trying new things at premium prices.”

Liebmann’s current assessment of beauty retail is one of cacophony — with key players having their work cut out for them.

“There’s a lot of discordance at the moment. We see categories like skin care and fragrance doing well at the premium level, while at the same time, those channels such as department stores are still struggling,”

she said. “I see lots of innovation coming in the mass space, but those channels are struggling, whether it be drug or some of the big-box retailers.”

As well, some of that interest in beauty, Liebmann reasoned, is bubbling up in less traditional channels.

“With the advent of TikTok Shop and all of the digital social shopping, there’s a level of chaos where every shopper is interested in using beauty: every age, every category, regardless of what the numbers tell us. And yet the retail landscape is so unsettled…”

“Retailers need to create a compelling experiences, and not just for people who have a lot of money. They want skin care, sun care and hair care, and they want new and interesting things.”

She sees most of the opportunity in attracting new demographics — and not just the oft-mentioned Gen Z. “We are not just talking about Gen Z or Gen Alpha, we are talking about Boomers and Gen X. Those generations of shoppers are actively looking to embrace beauty, and that’s a door opener for opportunity,” Liebmann said.

“Shoppers are becoming pragmatic about how they want to choose the products they buy, and the more complex and more redundant we make new products, that does everybody a disservice,” she said. “Brands, big or small, need to step back and ask how to make buying beauty easier for people — not just in terms of clicks, but in the ability to engage in such an emotional category.”

Visit WWD for the full article.