Online purchases of cosmetics and beauty products have been rising steadily in recent years, driven by social media marketing, rapid digitization, and the massive surge in eCommerce. The online platforms gave the beauty industry resilience even during the global pandemic, while some other sectors faced financial loss. Let’s explore how fast fulfillment helps beauty retailers stay ahead of the competition.
The cosmetics industry has been going through a regular upsurge with no stopping or slowing down as beauty and wellness gain importance to consumers worldwide. Even after the global disruption of the pandemic, the cosmetics industry has grown at a steadfast pace ever since 2004. So, it is not a surprise that the global cosmetics market is predicted to reach 128.89 billion U.S. dollars by 2028.
Though the beauty and cosmetic industry boasts an extensive range of products, skin care products have emerged as the main interest in recent years. In fact, the “skinification” trend proves that skin care is the latest rage among beauty aficionados. However, no matter the type of cosmetic product, it often needs special packaging and storage conditions, which all fulfillment companies may not be equipped to handle. Also, due to the nature of the product, fast fulfillment will help you delight your customers and thrive in this dynamic market of cut-throat competition.
Now, let’s explore how beauty retailers can benefit from expedited shipping services.
Buy, Try, and Return – Unique to the Beauty Industry
The complete sale of a beauty product often depends highly on consumers liking it after it reaches their hand. For example, after ordering a nail color or lipstick, if the consumer doesn’t like it, they could return it and buy another online or at the physical store. This buy-try-return is a unique feature of beauty retailers that sets them apart from digital retailers of other industries. As the VP of product management at Elastic Path and former Forrester B2B commerce analyst John Bruno says about the cosmetic industry, “It is an industry where trying on is crucial to the consumer experience.”
Leveraging Retail Locations Enables Speedy Product Delivery
Many brick-and-mortar retailers nowadays utilize “fast fulfillment centers” to give their online consumers an almost instant gratification experience as purchasing in the physical store. It is a strategy to process more daily orders during peak season, thus increasing the profit margin and revenue. Such ventures help beauty retailers offer two-day or next-day shipping to consumers.
Apart from that, fast fulfillment centers also help accelerate reverse logistics, which is essential for cosmetic companies with easy return policies. In fact, top cosmetic chains such as Sephora and Ulta are well-known for their liberal return procedures.
Countless SKUs to Manage
Fast fulfillment centers work well for cosmetic brands to handle their eCommerce orders due to the vast number of products and SKUs they handle regularly. For example, a beauty product like nail polish or lipstick, the same product comes in numerous colors and often in two sizes, such as regular and travel. Here, we are talking about millions of products with millions of SKUs to manage. While managing so many products, it becomes difficult for offline retailers to provide their in-store customers with a product catalog, which they can do more efficiently with their online stores.
In such cases, leveraging fast fulfillment centers ensures that your customers can buy and return your products seamlessly, thus making them loyal to your brand. It also enables customers to order online and return to the store, where they can immediately purchase something else, adding to the sales margin.
Reverse Logistics to Develop Customer Loyalty
Efficient and seamless handling of reverse logistics is fundamental to the success of a beauty retailer in a fast-moving, vibrant market where customers have innumerable choices to switch at the drop of a hat. After all, beauty is a volatile industry, with new brands and retailers emerging in the market regularly. You need to make your customers feel comfortable returning products and give them confidence with a quick refund process. Your customers don’t need to know how the returned products are dealt with at the backend as long as they are updated on how quickly they get their refund.
Key Factors for Timely Order Fulfillment
Efficient and seamless handling of reverse logistics is fundamental to the success of a beauty retailer in a fast-moving, dynamic market. It is precisely why most brands now engage with professional Third-party Logistics [3PL] providers for efficient order fulfillment ranging from warehousing to kitting and bundling products and customer support. With online purchases becoming the chosen method of shopping for consumers, you need to ensure that your fulfillment process reflects the spirit of the beauty industry – fashionable, efficient, and dependable.
Here are some of the critical factors that are fundamental to effective beauty fulfillment:
• Streamlined Inventory Control
An innumerable range of products, ranging from lipsticks to nail colors and shimmering highlighters, leading to countless SKUs, require competent inventory management. You can ensure inventory is always balanced by implementing an appropriate SKU management system, checking stock levels regularly, and setting par levels to avoid overstocking or stockout.
• Personalized Packaging
We know how significant the unboxing experience is for a customer when they receive a package, and it is especially applicable to cosmetic products. Apart from ensuring product safety, the packaging should also be visually appealing. You can use pretty branded boxes, ribbons, small samples, and thank-you notes to make your customers feel special and continue with your brand.
• Expedited Fulfillment Solutions
In the dynamic beauty industry, with rapidly changing fashion trends, speed is the key. So, you must ensure your products are dispatched and delivered quickly. In the age of instant gratification, expedited shipping services help you enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Conclusion:
The vibrant beauty and cosmetics industry, with rapidly changing trends and a diverse range of products, requires effective fulfillment strategies for streamlined logistics operations. You have to adapt and innovate consistently and focus on your customers to thrive in this cut-throat competitive market. After all, we all know that effective fulfillment is delivering an experience and a promise. With personalized touches and regular, effective communication, you can create an incredible buyer’s journey from order to delivery.
So, to focus on your business and products, if you want to partner with a third-party logistics provider for competitive retail fulfillment, connect with XPDEL.
About XPDEL:
XPDEL helps eCommerce brands accelerate their growth, empowering them with multi-channel fulfillment, whether shipping directly to consumers, delivering to businesses, or selling through retail stores. We are founded and operated by veterans with experience from Amazon, FedEx, UPS, JDA, Walmart, Target, and other leading companies in eCommerce and Retail. Guided by these experts, we provide customer experiences that help you grow your business.