Digital Focus: Top 10 stories on beauty tech and digital developments in 2022

‘Multibillion gamechanger’: Good Glamm Group CEO on ‘cracking the code’ of a content-to-commerce beauty boom​​

A pioneer of the content-to-commerce business model that is fuelling significant beauty industry growth in India has revealed how it ‘cracked the code’ of this new approach.

Good Glamm Group CEO Darpan Sanghvi joined CosmeticsDesign-Asia to talk about the firm’s revolutionary content-to-commerce model, its vision to become the biggest player in South Asia’s beauty space and dissects what gives a beauty brand its X-factor.

One of the most exciting beauty companies in Asia today, The Good Glamm Group is the pioneer of the content-to-commerce model that has powered its rapid rise in India’s beauty market.

Sephora’s ‘next-gen’ site mixes high-tech tools with the human touch​​

Beauty omnichannel retailer Sephora says it is incorporating digital technology with the human touch via its first Asia ‘next-gen’ store.

The new store is also Sephora’s first-ever store in Asia that is equipped with a fully mobile checkout process.

“Stores can no longer be just a point of transaction because there are so many options for consumers to transact so experiential retail is absolutely critical,”​ said Alia Gogi, President of Sephora Asia.

The pitfalls of allowing TikTok to dictate beauty product development​​

Getting the stamp of approval from TikTok can generate a lot of success for beauty brands, but one insider cautions companies not to fall into the trap of letting TikTok dictate their product development.

While TikTok is a boon for beauty, brands must ensure they do not blindly let it influence the product development process.

The rise of TikTok has stimulated the generation of new trends that brands try to jump on. However, brands that insist on following the trends instead of concentrating on their core can lose their way.

‘Surprise and delight’: Beauty brands can use NFTs to reinforce connection with ‘super fans’​​

Beauty brands are being tipped to join the non-fungible token (NFT) bandwagon to forge closer bonds with their most loyal customers, which is becoming increasingly difficult to do today.

The reality is that it is getting more challenging for brands to reach out and engage their consumer. For instance, things like Facebook or Instagram advertising are getting more expensive, and brands must compete with hundreds, if not thousands, of other brands vying for the consumers’ limited attention.

Brands can use NFT technology to enable exclusive perks to reinforce that connection with their “super fans”.

New tricks: Why beauty brands require a new set of tools to craft an effective TikTok strategy​

Beauty brands that hope to utilise TikTok as an effective marketing tool cannot rely on the “same bag of tricks” they have employed with other social media platforms.

TikTok has proven itself to be a tremendous marketing force that is shaping beauty trends and buying habits. Beauty brands are flocking to it in droves, knowing it can very well make or break a brand.

The short-form video platform is a flurry of activity from the moment you open the app, and it can be a challenging space to navigate. It also requires a new way of thinking and a new set of tools to succeed in it.

Web3 expert encourages beauty brands to make ‘first small steps’ into the future​​

Beauty brands big and small are being urged to experiment with Web3 concepts such as NFTs and the Metaverse in order to “get ready for the future”.

“I really believe that it's time for the brands to start moving into Web3. For the first step, start small, maybe with NFTs, which is easily to play and start with,” ​said Jean-Philippe Hanquez, founder of Web3 consultancy MNT3.

Hanquez was speaking at a webinar event held by the Singapore Society of Cosmetic Chemists (SCSS).

How to win over… beauty consumers in a rapidly evolving e-commerce landscape​​

The beauty sector might be one of the hottest arenas in e-commerce, but there looks set to be boundless new opportunities on the horizon for digital-savvy brands, from social commerce advances to the metaverse.

According to a consumer study by e-commerce firm Lazada, 73% of consumers in South East Asia identify online shopping as ‘integral to everyday life’, with almost half (46%) going online to shop at least once weekly.

Nearly 60% of respondents said they embraced online shopping as a part of their daily lives just less than two years ago.

P&G aims to keep consumers excited with new and improved virtual shopping experience – SVP​​

Consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble is launching a new version of its virtual shopping experience to keep consumers excited about its host of brands.

The enhanced Show Me My Home platform was the result of the learnings the firm gleaned from the first campaign in 2020, which saw 20-times sales uplift regionally at its peak.

“That was the start of COVID, and we’ve learnt a lot from that. We wanted to go back to the drawing board, reinvent, redesign, and redevelop,”​ said Shankar Viswanathan, senior vice president, Malaysia, Singapore & Vietnam, P&G and head of e-commerce, Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa, P&G.

What the presence of TikTok Shop in SEA means for beauty and social commerce​​

The arrival of TikTok Shop in South East Asia could possibly accelerate the regional growth of social commerce and open the region’s beauty brands to a wider international audience.

TikTok is believed to have a strong backend system that other platforms do not, which can help accelerate social commerce in the region.

Additionally, the opportunities for beauty brands are tremendous, given the sheer size of its fast-growing global user base.

More mega sales events can help beauty brands get new customers and drive sales​​

The success of e-commerce mega sales days have created even more demand for such campaigns, creating more opportune moments for beauty brands to acquire new customers and increase baseline sales.

According to Damisa Tseng-Prompoj, of e-commerce enabler Intrepid Group, the relationship between consumers and mega campaigns have evolved significantly in the past decade.

She highlighted that the goals of these mega shopping events have also shifted. While it used to be all about driving gross merchandise value (GMV), it was now the opportune moment to acquire new customers.