How are leading cosmetics companies integrating employee experience to maximize the customer experience?

Customization becomes possible for everyone. In a saturated and highly competitive market, brands are rushing to improve their customer experiences in order to satisfy a consumer in constant search of entertainment. In the age of digital and 5.0 marketing, the emphasis is on hyper-personalization and customer-centricity, thanks to the synchronization of physical and digital channels, as well as the integration of digital tools in-store, known as phygital.

Marketing 5.0 aims to dispel the misconception that machines are replacing humans. In reality, man and machine will work together to add value to the customer experience.

Beauty Advisors' phygital experience: deploying apps at the point of sale

Strategies developed by brands for selective cosmetics stores (e.g. Sephora)

Selective cosmetics brands such as Sephora implement a variety of strategies to attract customers, stand out from the competition and increase sales. The most widely used and, above all, the most reliable is maximizing the experience of beauty advisors or sales consultants:

• These brands attach great importance to the in-store customer experience. They create visually appealing environments, offer free samples, organize product demonstrations, and train their staff to provide personalized advice.
• Selective cosmetics brands often have loyalty programs that reward loyal customers. These programs offer discounts, free samples and other benefits to encourage brand loyalty. All this is achieved by creating an easy, fluid experience for beauty advisors, by implementing tools that encompass all customer data, so that sales advisors have a global view of each customer and his or her degree of belonging and loyalty to the brand.
• Selective cosmetics brands are striving to personalize the shopping experience by offering products adapted to each skin type, color and individual customer preferences. Take Kiehl's, for example, which has set up an app for Beauty Advisors to help them recommend the best products for each skin type. This is done using a pen that scans the skin and, after just a few seconds, provides information on the type and quality of each skin type and, above all, what it needs to be strengthened.

Phygital customer experience: focus on the leaders in cosmetics 

How do brands integrate Beautytech into their positioning?

In the age of retailtainment, Beautytech is first and foremost a means of arousing consumers' curiosity and enabling them to enjoy a unique experience at the point of sale. This is reflected in the various gadgets available on site: either self-service, or with the assistance of a beauty advisor. Secondly, it enables the brand's expertise to be put into practice by responding to a specific need, facilitating product research and access, or assisting in the creation of a customized product.

The best Beautytech products to hit the market in 2023

L'Oréal, market leader with 2 CES Awards in 2023 dedicated to Beautytech, has deployed a range of in-store tools to support the "B.A" in accessing all the information needed to better present and accompany customers in their decisions, but mainly to improve the in-store experience of its customers by enabling them to better understand their needs, and refine their choices towards the ideal or even tailor-made product. These tools include :

Kiehl's and Lancôme: with the 3 key steps to a skin diagnosis for a routine with the most suitable products.

Yves Saint Laurent: With Rouge sur mesure, you can create up to 4,000 shades, all by connecting to the device with your smartphone to choose the perfect shade. The tool can also be used to select the shade from an image using the pipette tool.

Armani Beauty : thanks to its vending machine, Armani beauty enables customers in a hurry to virtually try out the various products in its beauty range and make the purchase directly from a dispenser, for an optimal, frictionless customer experience.

By Manal Gamraoui