At Estée Lauder, we are seeing a growing demand for digital enablement, as consumers increasingly expect brands to meet them where they are, whether online or in person.
Tracy Travis, the cosmetics company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, said this during a Monday, Feb. 5, call with analysts to discuss the brand’s fiscal second quarter of 2024. Stated. settlement of accounts He said North America, like China, experienced “slower performance” through digital channels. However, Fabrizio Frida, the beauty brand’s president and CEO, noted that omnichannel remains a key growth area in the long term.
Frida said, “We will continue to further strengthen our focus on high-growth channels.” “…we continue to be accelerated online by the various opportunities that we have in this world, and consumers are increasingly shopping omnichannel. We will continue to focus on opportunities” in the state. ”
Frieda added that the “first step” is to build “distribution in winning online channels” as the company continues to strive to gain market share in China.
In fact, Estée Lauder isn’t the only brand or retailer to see stagnant digital cosmetics sales growth. Retailer Her Sally Beauty reported her 2024 fiscal first quarter. settlement of accounts Global e-commerce sales reached $91 million on Thursday (February 1), the same as a year ago. one year ago — even though the digital mix rose slightly from 9.5% to 9.8%.
However, consumers want digital options for purchasing beauty products. According to his PYMNTS Intelligence research in 2023, “Changing grocery shopping habits and perceptions” from a balanced Census survey of more than 2,400 U.S. consumers, found that nearly half of all shoppers buy personal and health care products in stores less often. doing. Moreover, 48% of those who buy these products do not buy them in stores at all.
Additionally, many consumers expect to increase their digital engagement with this category. PYMNTS Intelligence Report “Tracking the digital payments takeover: Catch the coming e-commerce wave” was born in collaboration with. Amazon Web ServicesAccording to , 39% of the 2,700 consumers surveyed said they were very or very likely to increase their online purchases of health and beauty products.
” [beauty] The entire industry is on track for a full recovery, and in the long term much of this change will be driven by a permanent shift in consumer behavior to digital channels. ” said Vice President of U.S. Merchant Marketing, American Express. Tessa R. Dooley said in interview Last year with PYMNTS.
“… [Businesses] You need to leverage this newly available wealth of data, analytics, and feedback to find ways to make better business decisions to reach new segments and drive loyalty. ,” Dooley added.
Overall, Estée Lauder and other brands are recognizing the growing demand for digital availability in the beauty industry. Although there are some challenges to growing digital sales, in the long term, consumers are increasingly choosing digital options when purchasing beauty products. This shift presents an opportunity for companies in the industry to leverage online data and drive deeper customer loyalty.