home sweet home · new norm. but for others, especially those that haven't launched yet, the...
TRANSCRIPT
ISSUE #7APRIL 10, 2020
A Publication of WWD
Home Sweet HomeDespite the severity of the coronavirus crisis, there are some bright spots
— the home fragrance sector being one of them. Sales in core categories like candles are doubling for many brands. For more, see pages 9 and 10.
Plus: MAC’s Drew Elliott, the growth of the coronavirus-beard contingent and the latest on e-commerce sales. COLLAGE BY ALEX BANDONI Im
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APRIL 10, 2020
THE BUZZ
¬ A coalition of top beauty and wellness founders have banded together to form BeautyUnited to support health-care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The group includes Hollywood royalty (Gwyneth Paltrow, Victoria Beckham, Drew Barrymore), influencers (Marianna Hewitt, Lauren Gores and Huda and Mona Kattan) and entrepreneurs including Gregg Renfrew, Barbara Sturm, Jerrod Blandino and Jeremy Johnson and Zanna and Mazdack Rassi, and is being led by Beautycon ceo and founder Moj Mahdara.The group is focused on raising $10 million for Frontline Responders Fund, which transports life-saving medical supplies from manufacturers directly to communities that
need them most. More than 45 of the participating brands are donating personal-care supplies to frontline health-care workers, starting with those at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York. In addition, the coalition created a video produced by Milk Studios to further drive awareness and raise funds. — J.M.
¬ Celebrity makeup artist and entrepreneur Jillian Dempsey is jumping into tech (beyond her gold vibrating face bars, that is). Dempsey has launched Fyfe Beauty, a shoppable, subscription-based app available now on Apple’s app store. The app is available for a $5.99 monthly subscription fee, and comes with a variety of exclusive content, including videos and look tutorials. Videos feature a click-and-buy feature, allowing consumers
to purchase products from her eponymous makeup line. Dempsey, who is equally loved by fashion and Hollywood insiders, was an early proponent of natural formulations, and more recently, introduced a vibrating gold facial massage bar that literally had the style set buzzing. For the app, Dempsey joined forces with Perfect Corp., best known for its YouCam app that enables users to try on makeup virtually. —James Manso
Jillian Dempsey Jumps Into Tech
All Together Now
Beauty execs banding together .
TikTok twin-fluencers are causing
beauty buzz.
Shanae and Renae, aka the Nel
Twins, recently brought in their 20th
birthday by launching Gloss Twins,
a Gen Z beauty brand. Gloss Twins
debuts with the “Nel Gel” collection,
a line of three lip glosses priced just
under $12 on the brand's web site.
The Nel Twins are the first TikTok
beauty influencers to launch a line
of their own — during a pandemic,
no less. The pair plans to livestream
lab sessions over the next few weeks
and has been gifting the products
to fellow influencers on YouTube,
Snapchat and TikTok for review.
A combination of its algorithm
and lack of #SponCon saturation has
made TikTok an effective marketing
tool for a growing number of beauty
brands. Clean skin-care brand Truly
saw two of its products — a butt
polish and breast polish — sell out at
Ulta after amassing 20 million TikTok
views over the past couple of weeks.
Elsewhere on the Internet, NYX
Cosmetics is hosting a virtual music
festival. Jessie Reyez, Kim Petras
and Princess Nokia will livestream
performances on NYX's Instagram
throughout the weekend of April 10.
“During these unprecedented
times, we have seen an enormous
rally of human connection all over
the world, and this has truly inspired
us to take a closer look at how we
engage with our audience,” said
Stephanie Binette, general manager,
NYX Professional Makeup U.S.A.
“We want to bring an innovative,
digital experience that encourages
our community to come together in
a unique and exciting way.”
The Thread: The First TikTok Beauty Influencer Line Is Here Elsewhere on the Internet, Kim Petras will perform at NYX Cosmetics' virtual music festival. BY ALEXA TIETJEN
Shanae and Renae, known as the Nel Twins, have 1.2 million followers on TikTok.
Product Love The most engaging skin-care and makeup items on social media for March.
CHERRYPICK IS a social media analytics firm that measures product engagement at the stockkeeping-unit level. Here, the top items for March. Skin care resonated deeply at a time when consumers were house-bound, particularly masks, for both face and lips. Overall, engagement in the category was up 10 percent. Makeup, was down, losing 23 percent.
1. colourpop cosmetics Lux Gloss
2. huda beauty Pastel Obsessions Eyeshadow
Palette
3. morphe The James Charles Palette
4. urban decay All Night Long Lasting Makeup Spray
5. benefit cosmetics Brow Styler Eyebrow Pencil and
Powder Duo
6. fenty beauty by rihanna Gloss Bomb
7. jeffree star cosmetics Velour Liquid Lipstick
8. ysl beauté Rouge Volupte Shine Oil-In-Stick
9. dior makeup DiorSkin Forever UnderCover
Concealer
10. charlotte tilbury Luxury Palette
MAKEUP
1. tarte Jelly Glaze Anytime Lip Mask
2. wishful Yo Glow Enzyme Scrub
3. caudalie Purifying Mask
4. farmacy Very Cherry Clean
5. fourth ray Beauty Soak It Up Hydrating
Hyaluronic Mask
6.charlotte tilbury Magic Cream
7. colourpop cosmetics Colourpop x Mulan Brave Lip Mask
8. farsali Rose Gold Elixir
9. murad Vita-C Glycolic Brightening Serum
10. ole henriksen Banana Bright Vitamin C Serum
SKIN CARE
3
APRIL 10, 2020
NEWS FEED
ZOOM, SKYPE, GOOGLE
HANGOUTS: Beauty brands are
using all of the tools available to
keep communication current during
the coronavirus.
Clinique was planning to move to
a new floor in its Manhattan offices
when the coronavirus struck the city,
prompting the company to require
its 300 New York City employees to
work from home. Employees have
been using Skype, Zoom and Teams
to communicate, according to Jane
Lauder, Clinique’s global brand
president, and two weeks ago, the
company held a virtual town hall.
“We repurposed the town hall to
talk about what’s going on today,”
Lauder said. “I asked people to send
in pictures of things they’re grateful
for to remind ourselves that there’s a
lot of great things out there. Health
of our employees and community
comes first, so we talked through
that and all of the tools and ways
we can support everyone during this
time. Then, I wanted our teams to
talk about some of the changes and
successes they’ve [seen] to pivot to
how we speak to our customers and
how we engage.”
The concept of working from home
is more familiar to some than others.
Deepica Mutyala, founder and chief
executive officer of online community
and cosmetics brand Live Tinted,
began her entrepreneurial journey as
an influencer working from home.
“Most influencers start out that
way,” Mutyala said. “After launching
Live Tinted, the first year, we
were working out of my garage.”
Live Tinted now has five full-time
employees.
Charlotte Cho, founder of skin-
care company Then I Met You and
chief curator of Soko Glam, said
she felt somewhat “prepared for
what was to come” to the U.S. after
witnessing the coronavirus' impact
on her eight-member team in South
Korea. Now, her U.S. team of 32 is
using the same tools, i.e. Slack and
Google Hangouts, it normally would
in-office, but from home.
Managers are upholding their
previously scheduled weekly and
monthly one-one-ones with direct
reports over Google Hangouts, said
Cho, and communication between
the ceo, Cho's husband Dave, and the
staff is now more frequent.
“During this uncertain time,
you have to be continuously
communicating with the whole
company and making sure there’s
company-wide meetings regularly,
more often than before,” Cho said.
“As you see news coming out about
companies shifting, furloughing,
layoffs, there’s heightened anxiety.”
At Glow Recipe, the 23-person
team has assembled a “buddy
system,” pairing individuals from
different departments, said Sarah
Lee, cofounder and co-ceo. The
pairings, she said, promote one-
on-one interactions, allowing team
members to get to know one another
better through video chat.
“We are helping all departments
work collaboratively with better
understanding of each other,” Lee
said. “It’s important to support one
another and work closely during
this time.”
The desire to preserve a sense
of workplace culture amid the
coronavirus presents a sort of
paradox. Companies are intentionally
increasing communication, while
simultaneously advising employees
to unplug more frequently. La Mer,
Ouai and Beauty Bio are among
those implementing mandatory
breaks mid-workday.
“We have set definite parameters
around meeting hours to encourage
our teams to take breaks, spend
time with family, eat meals, exercise
or wind down, including a brand-
mandated, daily one-hour lunch
break,” said Sandra Main, global
brand president of La Mer and
Bobbi Brown.
Hannah Beals, vice president
of brand marketing at Ouai, said
the company has instilled a daily,
mandatory noon to 2 p.m. break to
“preserve our sanity and team energy.”
“It's less hours than we normally
work, but we have no meetings
during that time company-wide,”
Beals said. “This is our time to go
outside, recharge.”
Jamie O'Banion, founder and
ceo of BeautyBio, has mandated a
30-minute period of “zero screen
time” every afternoon.
“There are these blurred lines
right now, where there’s no clear
delineation between when your work
day starts and stops because it’s all
happening from the same place,”
O'Banion said. “The flip side of lack
of productivity can be where you’re
working too much, you’re in front of
the screen Zoom call after Zoom call.”
O'Banion is also keen on
keeping work culture traditions,
such as birthday and anniversary
celebrations, and cultivating visual
connection among team members.
“We’re social distancing, but you
have to caution against emotional
distancing,” she said. Employees
are encouraged to participate in
something called Monday Masking,
where they join team video
conference calls wearing eye gels,
sheet masks, hair masks and the
like. One team member's pet pig
made an appearance. O'Banion has
also set up a Slack channel meant to
simulate morning coffee time, where
employees can chat before officially
starting the work day.
For some brands, it's a matter
of acclimating to the coronavirus'
new norm. But for others, especially
those that haven't launched yet, the
guidelines are more vague.
Rare Beauty, Selena Gomez's
forthcoming cosmetics brand, is
taking steps to communicate both
internally among team members and
externally with potential customers.
A few weeks ago, the company
hosted a Zoom call with 15 people —
five Rare Beauty employees and 10 of
its Instagram followers — to initiate
interaction between the brand and
its following, said Katie Welch, chief
marketing officer.
“While we can’t meet our
community in person yet, we wanted
to start forging strong relationships
with people across the country,”
Welch said. “We haven’t been live-
streaming or broadcasting these
calls, but we decided to connect
with people in our community at
random. We invited them to a Zoom
call where they could meet different
members of the Rare Beauty team.
It was less about meeting us and
the brand but more about how can
we in this time of loneliness create
connection and have our community,
which is so strong and positive
online, meet one another. What a
time to be making new connections
that are meaningful.”
How Beauty Brands Are Adapting to the New WFH Norm Clinique, Glow Recipe, La Mer, Ouai and more beauty companies are implementing various strategies to preserve workplace culture and structure. BY ALEXA TIETJEN
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Glow Recipe has paired team members from different departments to promote one-on-one interactions during the coronavirus.
“There are these blurred lines right now, where there’s
no clear delineation between when your work day starts and stops because it’s all happening from
the same place.” —jamie o'banion, beautybio
4
APRIL 10, 2020
NEWS FEED
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WHILE THE CORONAVIRUS
pandemic has shut down much
of the world, it hasn't stopped
the growth of gray roots and
other beauty inconveniences. And
though far from a true crisis in this
situation, DIY beauty is experiencing
a surge, as consumers look for
at-home hacks for monthly beauty
maintenance like hair color, waxing,
Botox and the like.
Take hair color, which is up 66
percent year-over-year, per the NPD
group. Madison Reed, a direct-to-
consumer color brand which has 15
salons around the country, has seen
a spike in new customers since the
COVID-19 closures. A spokesperson
said that sales to new customers
were up twelvefold last week. “We
have seen women who have never
colored their hair at home turn to us
now, and we’re doing everything we
can to try to make it easy for them,”
the spokesperson said. “These times
are anxious enough.”
To meet the demand, Madison
Reed has tapped its in-salon
colorists to assist on the digital
customer service team, which now
numbers 115, up from its original 30.
Josh Wood, the U.K.-based colorist
and Redken’s Global Color Creative
Director who launched his eponymous
hair color and care line in the United
Kingdom in 2018, has noticed a similar
uptick in sales and engagement.
To keep up with the demand, Wood
has expanded his one-on-one color
consultant team from three to nine
people, and has moved his plans to
launch in the U.S. to deal with the
influx of North American clients, who
can now only shop on joshwoodcolour.
com. While he was originally planning
on launching in the U.S. in the next
12 months, he is now actively seeking
distributors to expedite the timeline.
“We have to address the amount of
inbound we’re getting from North
America,” Wood said.
DpHue is among the hair-care
brands seeing a spike. The brand’s
president and chief operating officer,
Martin Okner, said he’s seeing sales
above the 500 percent increase his
team has tracked in the category.
“We’re cautiously optimistic that this
period of time is going to become
more of a trend,” he said. “It’s
probably a little too early yet, to call
this trend sustainable.”
A different type of hair
maintenance — wax kits — has
also boomed. Flamingo, another
DTC brand which sells razors and
at-home waxing kits, had its biggest
day ever since its launch on March
29. Both the brand’s face and body
waxing kits are up 311 percent, when
comparing March’s first week to
its last. Flamingo is also trending
25 percent above forecast, and saw
products like its Ingrown Spot
Treatment sell out online.
Facial devices and skin care,
specifically those that can mimic
the effects of Botox and other in-
office dermatological treatments,
have also seen a dramatic increase.
Peace Out, for example, saw sales of
its microneedle facial patches with
active ingredients like retinol jump
300 percent in the past weeks.
NuFace, which makes microcurrent
devices for the face and body, has also
reported a sharp increase in sales.
Tera Peterson, chief executive officer,
says the decrease in its professional
channel (roughly 2,500 spas in the
U.S. use and sell NuFace) are being
compensated for by online sales
as the company explores affiliate
programs with its professional
partners. Sales on body device are up
200 percent, sales of skin care have
jumped 71 percent, and sales on its
own dot-com, mynuface.com, have
risen 90 percent.
Even with brick-and-mortar store
closures, Peterson reported a hearty
boost across its retail distribution;
nordstrom.com, for example, posed
a 300 percent increase with NuFace.
“We’re attributing a lot of that to
just how we’ve pivoted in the past
month,” Peterson said, playing to
the brand’s increased social strategy.
“How we pivot now is going to form
the future of NuFace.”
Melanie Simon, aesthetician and
founder of ZIIP Beauty has seen
a spike in demand for her ZIIP
microcurrent device. “We’re seeing
a 350 percent growth in sales in
this period of time compared to
last year, and people are at home
and want an approximation of what
you get in a professional setting,”
her cofounder, David Mason,
said, despite supply chain issues
with manufacturers following the
COVID-19-induced closures.
While others in the industry
express concern that the buying has
to stop, Simon herself thinks the
momentum for ZIIP is here to stay.
“We’ve never been big marketers
or advertisers, we’ve always been a
word-of-mouth product, and as more
people get that instant gratification,
that will keep moving,” she said.
The New DIY: At-Home Treatments Boom
At-home alternatives to beauty services, treatments and procedures are experiencing double-digit growth. BY JAMES MANSO
HIGH-TECH AT HOME
DIY goes high-tech with beauty machines. BY JENNIFER WEIL
DUOLABDuolab is a machine that makes personalized, preservative-free skin care using a range of capsules and a diagnostic tool. It’s from a
L’Occitane Group start-up.
HYLABWith HyLab, by Romy, people can choose their base and encapsulated active ingredients — with the help of an app — to make more than 1,000 different skin-care
combinations.
SCENT CREATORScent Creator is a speedy app-connected device allowing people to concoct their own perfumes. It’s from the bespoke beauty brand Noustique, born from a joint venture between Puig and BSH
Hausgeräte GmbH.
BEAUTYMIXBeautyMix is a blender coming with recipes to create natural face-care products, hygiene products, hair care and makeup.
Flamingo, a DTC brand focusing on wax kits and razors, is trending 25
percent above forecast.
While some are taking a grassroots approach to beauty, whipping up concoctions in the privacy of their own homes during the crisis, there’s a high-tech faction, too. Such folk aren’t taking out their mixing bowls, avocado and honey to whisk together a mask the old-fashion way. Rather, they are turning to machines that create made-to-measure beauty products and fragrances.
Here’s a selection of some recent gizmos coming out of Europe.
Experience 48-HOUR sweat and odor protection, crafted with pure essential oils. Free of parabens and dyes.
NEW
ESSENTIAL LUXURY.
Camilla Mendes
6
APRIL 10, 2020
NEWS FEED
FORMER L’ORÉAL USA
executive Joseph J. Campinell passed
away on Saturday. The cause was
complications from the coronavirus.
He was 73 years old.
Campinell retired as president of
L’Oréal USA’s Consumer Products
Division in 2011. He spent 25 years
at the company, and is credited with
helping to establish brands such as
L’Oréal Paris, Maybelline New York,
Garnier and SoftSheen Carson into
leading players.
He joined in 1986 as vice president of
marketing for hair care and hair color,
and quickly rose through the ranks. By
2002, he was in charge of the Consumer
Products Division, which then consisted
of L’Oréal Paris, Maybelline and
SoftSheen Carson. Under his watch,
L’Oréal Paris became the number-one
beauty brand in the U.S.
“Joe Campinell was a beloved
member of the L’Oréal community and
one of the great architects of L’Oréal
USA,” said Frédéric Rozé, executive
vice president of L’Oréal Americas.
“A natural-vborn leader, Joe took the
Consumer Products Division to new
heights during his 25-year career at
L’Oréal and made it a market leader
in almost every category. As we think
of Joe today, we can remember the
inspiring leader so thrilled with the
hard-earned success of the business
and so proud of his teams. On this sad
day, we share our gratitude for the time
spent with Joe and for the powerful
legacy he left behind and express our
deepest sympathies to his family.”
Despite his success across all
categories, Campinell said at the
time of his retirement that one of
his proudest business moments was
propelling L’Oréal to the top spot
in hair color, ahead of then-market
leader Clairol, which was owned by
Procter & Gamble at the time. When
he joined the company, L’Oréal had
a 26 percent market share of the
market, versus Clairol at 56 percent.
“I was in Paris in a meeting with
[former L’Oréal chairman] Lindsay
Owen-Jones and we were told we
just passed that other competitor,” he
said. “The ride was unbelievable and
it was a big deal. Those moments are
very special when you get that info.”
He also talked about the
importance of leaving a legacy, but
not in the typical sense. “In the end,
you have to ask if you had something
to do with leaving good people to
run the company well? “There was a
time here when people [here] were
shaky about the business and I said if
we can do half as good as the people
before us, we will do good. We grew
in the double digits a dozen years in
a row,” Campinell told WWD.
Campinell engendered fierce loyalty
in his team, including protégés like
Carol Hamilton, now group president
of acquisitions; David Greenberg,
who today heads up the Professional
Products Division, and Karen Fondu,
who retired as president of L’Oréal
Paris USA in 2016.
“Everyone talks about his
personality, but it’s important to
know he was the major foundation
of building the L’Oréal Paris brand,”
Hamilton told WWD at the time of
Campinell’s retirement. “It was a
niche brand and now it’s the number
one beauty brand in the world.”
Hamilton worked closely with
Campinell, and noted that the
longevity of the team he put together
was part of what made the company
so successful. “We were fixated on
the long-term business, and talking
about where we wanted the business
to be five years down the line,” she
said. “When we started, we were the
challenger — the only business we
had was hair color. Cosmetics had
just started and was tiny at about $5
million and there was no skin care.”
She also lauded Campinell’s ability
to bridge the gap between French
and American working styles, noting
that he was able to bring the two
sides of the company closer together.
“Before Joe came, we were working
in silos, but Joe gained the trust of
management in Paris and management
in the U.S., and helped formulate a real
way of working between the two sides.
He always found the common ground
to enable the teams to find the right
solution for the business.”
Campinell is survived by his
wife, Mary; daughter, Melissa Frey;
two sons, Eric and Mark, and 10
grandchildren. A service celebrating
Campinell’s life will be held in the fall.
Joseph Campinell, Former L'Oréal USA Exec, Dead at 73 Campinell is credited with helping to drive L'Oréal to a leading position in the U.S. BY JENNY B. FINE
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FOLLOWING SALON AND spa
closures and the mass of unpaid beauty
service providers, beauty brands are
compensating by freezing outstanding
credit payments and donating to
funds aimed at unemployed or unpaid
service providers.
Leading the charge is L’Oréal
USA. Salon and stylist customers
of L’Oréal’s professional division
with an outstanding credit on their
account are having their payments
frozen until their businesses are
able to reopen. L’Oréal USA has also
extended points set to expire in April
from its loyalty program, LEVEL
Loyalty Rewards, to the end of May.
This comes in tandem with the firm's
$200,000 donation to the Professional
Beauty Association’s COVID-19 Relief
Fund, giving short-term relief for
necessities to salon workers and service
providers. Other donors to the fund
include Kao, Living Proof, Moroccanoil,
Priori Skincare and Davines.
Hair care brand R+Co is also helping
its salon clients with an affiliate
program enabling salons and stylists
selling R+Co products to their clients
through a link to earn a 40 percent
commission on the sales. It is also
accelerating their payments to reach
professional clients every Friday. The
goal for March, for example, was to pay
out $500,000 in salon commissions.
DpHue has also found success
with its affiliate program. Martin
Okner, president and chief operating
officer, said that there were 3,000
sign-ups for the program in March,
wherein professional clients make a
50 percent commission for purchases.
The salon professional administers
the transaction, while DpHue ships
the product to the consumer directly
to avoid burdening the mediator with
shipping charges. This is an increase
from DpHue’s previous 35 percent
commission rate, and the commission
is deposited directly to the affiliate’s
PayPal account every two weeks.
Okner underscored the importance
of helping hair salons and small
businesses as unemployment
numbers reach record highs. “There
are probably about 3 million stylists
that aren’t able to work,” he said.
“In terms of market penetration and
getting these stylists to make money,
we’ve got a long way to go.”
How Beauty Brands Are Directly Supporting Service Workers Firms are freezing salon payments and jumpstarting affiliate programs until their businesses are permitted to reopen. BY JAMES MANSO
7
APRIL 10, 2020
NEWS FEED
AS PEOPLE AROUND the world
continue to acclimate to quarantine,
many men are turning to new
grooming routines to experiment with
their appearance and pass the time.
No one could have predicted or
prepared for how long mandated
lockdowns would last given these
unprecedented times. As the days
progressed, grooming practices
maintained normalcy, but over time
and with barber shop closures, men
have become lax about their grooming
routines with many growing what is
being dubbed as the "corona-beard."
The corona-beard is exactly how
it sounds. Men are growing their
facial hair out during the lockdown,
and donning everything from Tony
Stark-esque goatees to beards to
complement their moustaches,
wide sideburns, or "muttonchops,"
or letting their beards get long like
NBA All-Star James Harden.
“A lot of guys are taking the
opportunity to get creative,” said
Devon Zdatny, chief executive officer
of First & First Consulting. “The
motivation fundamentally starts with
‘What’s the point?’ and evolves into,
‘Why don’t I try this?’”
Zdatny found that one in four men
in America are growing out their
facial hair, and one in three men who
had stubble are growing their facial
hair longer. She added that the men
in particular who have “taken the
time to be a bit lazy,” range in age
from 25 to 44, are mostly married
or in serious relationships and have
high-paying, manager-level positions
in client-facing jobs.
Oars + Alps ceo and cofounder
Mia Duchnowski also noticed
an increase in men’s facial hair
saying that customers don’t feel
motivated to maintain their facial
hair. “From what we're hearing on
social and through our customer
service team, there is no pressure to
look completely put together,” said
Duchnowski. “Many say that Zoom
isn't HD or like real life, so you can
get away with an unkempt beard.”
Walker & Company brands vice
president of marketing Tia Cummings
said Bevel customers have been sharing
photos and stories about growing their
facial hair. “Now that they’re stuck in
the house, they don’t feel the pressure
to shave every day," she said. "Maybe
they’ve always wanted to grow a beard,
but didn’t want to go through the
patchy phase in public.”
Facial hair maintenance was
actually in jeopardy at the beginning
of the coronavirus. A 2017 infographic
from the Centers for Disease Control
about facial hair styles that are most
suitable for wearing a respirator made
its rounds in late February 2020, with
many media outlets reporting that
shaving is recommended for all men.
The CDC followed saying that the
graphic is only for those who wear
respirators for protection at work
and that it doesn’t recommend men
outside of the workplace shave their
facial hair.
Still, some guys are continuing
to shave. Zdatny said some just
can’t handle maintaining a beard,
while others are influenced by their
significant other. First & First’s Social
Insights report found that men “have
gravitated towards extreme ends of the
facial hair spectrum.” This bodes well
for grooming brands offering products
for shaving or facial hair maintenance.
“We're seeing significant spikes
in search and demand for home
grooming products — especially
stylers, trimmers, IPL products,”
said Ahmed Rizk, spokesperson for
Gillette and The Art of Shaving.
Cummings said that the Bevel beard
trimmer, beard balm and beard oil
“have been selling strongly,” and the
trimmer, shave system and balm in
particular have “grown in popularity.”
Oars + Alps beard oils sales have
seen “a 50 percent increase week over
week” from the end of January to this
week. Maapilim founder Jonathan
Keren said their beard wash and beard
softener are trending up and the under
beard serum that launched in March
“has shown really nice sales,” with
beard product sales up 45 percent.
Scotch Porter founder Calvin
Quallis said that customers have
historically purchased two products
at a time, but are now buying the
full beard product collection called
the Superior Collection that includes
a hydrating hair wash, nourish and
repair conditioner, smoothing balm,
leave-in conditioner and serum.
“Growing a beard is a personal
extension of men’s style and who
they are,” said Quallis. “The guys
with healthy-looking beards take a
lot of time to take care of it. Even
during times like these because they
care so much about it.”
While brands are experiencing
an increase in sales for beard
maintenance products, Fulton
& Roark has seen a 121 percent
increase in Shave Cream sales. “Our
customers are spending lots of time
on video conference calls, which
means that not only are other people
looking at your face, but you actually
have to spend time staring at your
own face, too,” cofounder Kevin
Keller said. “In talking with some of
our barber partners, it sounds like
guys who used to get shaves at the
shop are invested in trying to up
their shaving games. I wouldn’t be
surprised if a higher level of interest
in getting the best possible shave
persists after this is all over.”
But what impact will the
coronavirus have on grooming when
the lockdowns are over?
Quallis predicts that men will keep
up with their grooming routines, but
will be more price-conscious, opting
for a less-expensive shampoo or get
a haircut from a barber charging less
money. “Grooming and the way we
present ourselves and how we value
outward appearance will continue
to be important,” he said. “The art
and process of grooming lends itself
to the way we feel. We want to feel
good. The importance of self-care
hasn’t become less important. There
are just different ways to do it.”
He also believes that the businesses
that will survive this lockdown are
going to think of ways to add value to
customers lives unselfishly, citing as
examples Scotch Porter’s Instagram
Live workout, grooming and cooking
shows, The Art of Shaving’s virtual
barber shop on Instagram, and
Fulton & Roark’s social media series
which gives a gift card to someone
helping people on the front lines.
Duchnowski mentioned the
potential to expand into new
categories. “We previously strayed
away from using alcohol as an
ingredient,” she said. “However
customers are looking for options
when it comes to hand sanitation.
Men are focusing more on hygiene
and self-care, less on luxury and feel-
good products. This is a very different
shift and making us think differently.”
Zdatny, however, believes the
corona-beard phenomenon will not
live on when the lockdowns are over.
“I don’t expect our corona-beard bros
to keep their facial hair,” she said.
“We expect the workplace to change,
but we don’t expect private equity
and law firms to embrace facial hair
as the new norm at such scale. In
terms of what will happen, as we
come out of lockdown, there will be a
big decline in the beard trend. We’re
going to see a trend with hygiene.”
The Corona-Beard: Men's New Quarantine Hobby Brands are benefiting from men growing their facial hair experimenting with new looks while on lockdown, but will the new hobby remain? BY OBI ANYANWU
Men are getting creative with their grooming
during the crisis.
8
APRIL 10, 2020
WEEKLY ROUNDUP
LAUDER ENHANCES LIQUIDITY¬ The Estée Lauder
Cos. Inc. has borrowed $1.3 billion on its $1.5
billion revolving credit facility as it looks to
“enhance its financial flexibility and liquidity”
during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The beauty company already had $200
million outstanding on the loan. Lauder has also suspended purchases of Class A common stock, and
says it believes it now has “sufficient liquidity”
in order to operate during COVID-19.
Lauder is still up and running, with stores
reopening in Asia being a bright spot,
but things are different now, according to
their filing with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission on Tuesday. Lauder
has modified business practices and has
seen many of its retail partners close. Travel retail, a driving force for the business, has
also taken a big hit, but Asia is starting to pick
up again, the company said, and online sales are also a bright spot. The move comes as beauty companies
large and small have had to weigh different financial options as the
COVID-19 pandemic persists.
—Allison Collins
¬ Tiffany & Co. and LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton are still headed to the altar — but a COVID-19 slowdown at the Australian regulatory agency could delay the high-end marriage.
The New York-based jeweler said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday that it had received or was in the process of obtaining approvals from governments
around the world to close the $16.2 billion acquisition.
But the coronavirus outbreak has slowed down the bureaucracy in Australia. The country’s Competition and Consumer Commission issued a no-action letter on March 30, clearing the transaction. But a March 5 filing seeking the approval of the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board has been delayed. — Evan Clark
¬ Unruly, the video advertising platform that is part of Tremor International, surveyed consumers globally to assess changing sentiment toward content amid the coronavirus pandemic. With only 10 percent of the U.S. continuing daily lives as “normal,” Unruly’s findings show changed interests in advertising experiences. Twenty-two percent of respondents report they “want brands to share information on how they are supporting their staff and customers during this time.” An additional 21 percent
reported they “want brand advertisements to include information about COVID-19,” 17 percent “want ads to provide a sense of continuity and normalcy.” The final 17 percent “want ads to be funny or positive in an effort to distract from what’s going on.” The company’s research additionally found that just over half of consumers prefer brands to communicate through television advertisements and within the 18-to-24-year-old age range, 42 percent prefer brands to communicate through online video. — Alexandra Pastore
¬ Consumer spending
on fashion is way down, but not entirely shut down. While Walmart, Walgreens, Amazon, Target, CVS, Costco, Kroger, Trader Joe’s and other “essential” retailers are in high gear to meet the rush for food, pharmaceuticals and protective gear, others despair over what to do
¬The coronavirus crisis is weighing heavily on the French economy, which has entered a recession with first-quarter GDP down 6 percent, according to the governor of the Bank of France, François Villeroy de Galhau, on Wednesday.According to the institution, a study of figures from the second half of March shows that economic activity slowed by around 32 percent as lockdown measures came
into effect. The country’s statistics agency INSEE released an initial estimate of the decline in economic activity at around 35 percent on March 26. Speaking on French radio channel RTL, the governor said annual GDP could be weighed down by around 1.5 percent, offering a more grim assessment than a previous estimate of around 1 percent, suggested by the finance minister in March. — Mimosa Spencer
France in Recession
LVMH’s Tiffany Deal Held Up
COVID-19 Reshapes Consumer Content Preferences
Pandemic Crushes Retail
The Latest From WWD Fashion.Finance.Media.Retail.
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with all their “nonessentials.” “Clothing and footwear is facing a crisis. This category sees the greatest number of consumers cutting spending, and the level of sales transfer to e-commerce is insufficient to offset the impact of store closures,” according to Coresight Research.
Several retailers and industry experts cited bright pockets in soft goods, in particular baby clothes, basics, bedding, pajamas, sweats, denim, and generally speaking, clothes for comfort, lounging and sheltering in. Board games, toys, home improvement, streaming services, tutorials and tech accessories were frequently cited as strong sellers. — David Moin
9
APRIL 10, 2020
DEEP DIVE
IN FEBRUARY, perfumer David
Moltz, founder of Brooklyn-based
D.S. & Durga, was selling a lot of fine
fragrance.
Candles and ancillary products like
hand soaps and body lotions were a
nice-to-have, not need-to-have, part of
the business, making up less than a
quarter of the brand’s total sales.
A lot has changed in one month.
Coronavirus-induced lockdowns have
left most consumers confined to their
homes, and demand for candles and
home fragrance has skyrocketed.
For D.S. & Durga, home fragrance
sales on the brand’s e-commerce
site have tripled in the last month,
and doubled through its wholesale
accounts with retailers such as
Nordstrom and Saks.
The surge in sales dates back to
mid-March, when “the s--t really hit
the fan,” in New York, with businesses
shuttering and people self-isolating,
said Moltz.
“Everyone wants to be cozy,” he
said. “We’re selling through our
inventory and it’s going super-rapid
right now.”
With nonessential retailers
like Sephora, Ulta Beauty and
department stores shut down and
operating online only, total prestige
beauty sales were down 58 percent
in March, according to data from
The NPD Group.
Despite the sharp decline, there
are some bright spots, and home
fragrance is one of them. Home
ancillary gift sets — essentially,
candle sets — were up 6 percent
this week.
“It doesn’t seem like much, but in
a double-digit decline, that’s pretty
impressive,” said Larissa Jensen, vice
president and beauty industry adviser
at The NPD Group. “It’s all about self-
care and the home spa environment.”
She noted that candles are up not
just in the U.S., but globally.
Jensen said the increase is part
of the self-care trend that much
of the U.S. population is currently
engaging in, whether doing online
workouts or their nails at home.
“Staying healthy is everyone’s number
priority, and beyond that, trying to
maintain some sense of normalcy
under these circumstances is still
top of mind for many,” she wrote
in a blog post. While noting that
personally she’s not doing the 30-day
workout challenge her son adopted,
she did admit she’s not immune to
the self-care movement. “Outside
of the obsessive hand washing,” she
wrote, “I’m making sure to moisturize
my skin, do my own nails and light
the occasional scented candle when
I start to feel stressed and need an
olfactive getaway.”
“We have seen some changes with
our mix of business, specifically in
China where our home category
has doubled,” said Jean-Guillaume
Trottier, global brand president,
Jo Malone London. "In our home
market, the U.K., a third of our
purchases are currently made in
the home category.”
In the U.S., the home fragrance
category, which includes candles,
room sprays, diffusers and ancillary
items like hand soap and lotion is
small, but has been on a growth streak
for the past few years. As consumers
spend more time at home, that u
Candles Burn Bright Amid Coronavirus Pandemic While the beauty industry faces steep declines, home fragrance is a bright spot. BY ELLEN THOMAS COLLAGE BY ALEX BANDONI
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“People are working from home and are interested in both
cleanliness and creating a home
environment where they want peace and escapism.”
—linda levy, the fragrance foundation
growth is set to accelerate.
“It was [previously] only a small
portion of the fragrance business,
but the home fragrance category
during the pandemic is undoubtedly
seeing major increases,” said Linda
G. Levy, president of The Fragrance
Foundation. “People are working
from home and are interested in
both cleanliness and creating a home
environment where they want peace
and escapism.”
Several brands echoed this
sentiment, telling Beauty Inc they
were experiencing unprecedented
online orders, not just from
wholesale accounts, but their direct
business as well.
Maria Dempsey, chief executive
officer of Nest New York, said the
brand has seen a surge in online sales
from both its own e-commerce site
and retail partners such as Sephora
and Nordstrom, noting a “dramatic
shift” back to candles from diffusers,
which had been more popular at the
start of the year.
Sales of Nest’s triple-wick candles,
which retail for $68, have more than
doubled, said Dempsey, especially
in the brand’s core scents such as
Bamboo and Moroccan Amber. “What
we’re hearing is that in this time of
crisis, people are loving the ritual of
lighting a candle,” said Dempsey.
Hand soaps and lotions are also up,
she said.
“From that first week that
Americans were working from
home, we saw a massive spike,”
said Eduardo Valdez, director of
marketing and communications for
Diptyque. “This is unlike anything
you could imagine happening in our
lifetime, and people are trying to
differentiate between their work and
home environment — scent is a really
nice way to do that.
Similar to Nest, Diptyque is seeing
increased demand for candles
in its core scents, such as Baies,
10
APRIL 10, 2020
DEEP DIVE
1. Sales of home fragrances are spiking, with brands repor ting that classic scents have been sel l ing the best.
2. The impact is spill ing over into home-care items. Laundr y detergent, dish soap and mult isur face disinfectants from luxur y and niche brands are al l increasing in popularit y. 3. A new breed of direct-to-consumer brands are finding success online—even without an IRL component enabling consumers to test the scent first.
Key Takeaways
Tuberose, Feu de Bois and Ambre.
“It’s definitely something that’s
safe,” said Valdez. “During this time,
[consumers] aren’t willing to take a
risk on something they’re not quite
sure about.”
With Diptyque stores closed,
sales are coming mainly from the
brand’s e-commerce site and its
retailer accounts. The first initial
rush on Diptyque’s web site was
likely customers stocking up on
replenishments, Valez said.
Most brands Beauty Inc spoke to
agreed that online sales don’t begin
to make up for brick-and-mortar
business lost, but the consumer’s
quick adaptation to online candle
shopping is making them rethink
direct e-commerce as a more
important channel post-pandemic.
Lafco founder Jon Bresler was
certain he wouldn’t get any traffic or
orders on the brand’s web site during
the citywide lockdowns. He has
followed government mandate and
closed his Brooklyn manufacturing
facility, where he ships orders from,
and even put a banner on the site’s
home page announcing that all
online orders would be held until the
warehouse is able to reopen.
Still, consumers are ordering.
“We are still receiving a
tremendous amount of orders,” said
Bresler. “We thought the Internet site
wouldn’t get any orders and we are
getting more orders than we used to.”
Lafco sells direct through Amazon,
where he said the brand’s Office
candle and hand soaps and lotions
are in high demand. He's thinking
about going to the warehouse this
weekend and fulfilling himself orders
for hand soaps and a new shipment
to Bluemercury, which has sold out
online of much of its inventory.
“We have had a run on [bar] soap and
liquid soap in a way we’ve never seen
before,” said Bresler. “We’re thinking
people really need this.”
The demand from lafco.com
will have to wait, he said, because
the volume is too high for him to
fulfill alone.
“A whole portion of our business
has come to a screeching halt, but
we’ve seen on our web site over the
past week has been above and beyond
what we forecasted and even what we
reforecasted a couple weeks ago,” said
Casey Riley, brand director for Capri
Blue at Curio Brands.
Capri Blue sells its home fragrance
line in about 5,000 specialty
boutiques and in Anthropologie,
where its Volcano scent has
become a cult hit. The brand
recently expanded into home care
with cleaning products, including
laundry detergent, dish soap and a
multisurface disinfectant.
The multisurface cleaner, launched
in January, has already oversold,
said Riley.
Lifestyle items are also doing well
at Diptyque. The brand’s Hourglass
Diffuser and, interestingly, a hair
mist, are also in high demand,
said Valdez.
The pandemic has altered how
some fine fragrance brands, for
which home fragrance was an
insignificant portion of sales, will
approach product development
going forward.
At Nest, Dempsey is thinking
about a new launch cadence,
especially as consumers gravitate
toward the brand’s core scented
candles. “Newness is a risk,” she
said. “Maybe [we take] smaller risks
if we want to try a new fragrance
and start with a limited amount and
doing it only on our web site.”
Moltz has been “thinking about
ways” his business can give back. In
the short term, that means making
hand-sanitizer through his Bronx
manufacturer, and donating half the
supply to New York-area hospitals.
“It will change what products we
make,” said Moltz of the pandemic.
“[We may be] pivoting to more
cleaning products, candles, maybe
less perfume launches — looking at
what people really need.” ■
THE NEW CANDLE COMPETITORSFive brands formulating with full-spectrum cannabinoids.
While Diptyque, Nest and Jo Malone have historically ruled the home fragrance landscape, a new class of players is emerging in the candle category, giving Millennials options that home in on affordable luxury and clean ingredients. OTHERLANDFounded by former Ralph Lauren staffer Abigail Cook Stone, the idea for Otherland was born out of a desire for a sophisticated candle that wouldn't break the bank. Otherland's candles have quickly become a Millennial favorite and are sold direct through its web site, or on 12 OVERROSEOverrose candles combine luxury scent with sustainability — founder Matthieu Belhandouz worked briefly for Stella McCartney. The brand is said to follow a strict sourcing policy when it comes to ingredients, using only organic and natural oils. At $58 to $68 each, its candle prices rival that of Diptyque, but vessels in an array of bright and holographic colors serve as a differentiator.
MAISON LOUIS MARIEAnother Parisian import, Maison Louis Marie is a six-year-old brand quickly gaining traction in the U.S. for its affordable scents —$34 for a candle — and use of clean, botanical ingredients. The brand is sold online at Sephora. APOTHEKEApotheke uses the power of Instagram to promote its $38 single-wick candles through an ambassador program. The Brooklyn-based brand sources its scents from essential oils. KERZONYet another French home fragrance line is making its way to the U.S. market. Kerzon's Paris-inspired candles, $42 each, are made with biodegradable wax and are sold at Nordstrom. The greater line, sold in France, includes cleaning products such as laundry detergent. D.S. & DURGAThe Brooklyn-based perfume house began selling candles last year. Big Sur After Rain, a popular fragrance from the brand, has become a top seller.
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Beauty Inc’s April 17 newsletter will focus on the beauty
brands, companies, solution providers and retailers making
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TH
12
APRIL 10, 2020
MASTER CLASS
DREW ELLIOTT BROKE THE Internet as Paper Magazine's editor
in chief. Now, as MAC's senior
vice president and global creative
director, he aims to do the same in
beauty. He sat down with Beauty Inc
before the coronavirus pandemic to
share the direction he envisions for
one of beauty's most storied brands.
What was your first job and
what did you learn?
Drew Elliott: I worked the door
at The Roxy nightclub in New York
City, which was an old roller rink
that was turned into a huge dance
club on the West Side. I learned
so much about New York, people
and the curation of how you put
the right people together to have a
spectacular occasion. It’s kind of like
the choreography of people.
What do you know now that you
wish you knew when you were
starting out? D.E.: Your plan is going to change.
My dream when I was a kid was to be
an actor. I went to theatrical camp,
I did all kinds of things, and all of
that was not lost because I love to
perform. I sing to the people here.
I will crank up the tunes and make
everyone dance. Being in theater also
helps me in meetings. That’s what
my dream was, and then I worked
in publishing and that was a dream.
I wanted to be on TV — that was a
dream. And then this happened. I
never closed myself off to opportunity,
but I think when I was young, I
was like, 'This is what I’m gonna
do,' which I think is ambition. But
sometimes you have to understand
that your ambition can be what you’re
able to achieve as opposed to the
thing you’re achieving.
What’s driving the growth of
MAC and where do you see
opportunity for improvement?
D.E.: Emerging markets, areas
like China. Geographically, that’s
what’s driving our business. But
also, all of our innovation. What’s
amazing about MAC is we have
so many things. Some stores have
1,700 products in them. We really
have over the years accumulated
every single thing that you need to
create whatever look you want. I
think there are certain heroes inside
of that, whether it’s our Studio Fix
Foundation, our bullet lipsticks,
Ruby Woo. There are staples to the
business, there’s newness to the
business, and then there are new
markets to the business. That’s really
what creates our growth.
What are your top three
priorities for the next year?
D.E.: My first one is around our
brand dot-com. What’s amazing
about MAC is it’s such an experience.
When you go in stores, when you
try on our products, our artists
— it’s second to none. People love
MAC when it’s in real life, so I think
translating that and making sure it
equals that excitement digitally is the
number-one thing that I’m looking at
achieving. We have amazing things
like virtual try-on and shade finder,
so it’s just bringing all of those to
the front and helping consumers
understand how they can use online
the same way they can use our stores.
Number two is making MAC
remarkable. It has this artistry, it has
fashion, it has all of those amazing
components and that’s why people
know MAC and love it. Translating
that remarkable feeling for young
people is really exciting to me.
Starting with [the collaboration with
“Euphoria” star] Alexa Demie, that’s
the MAC that I love, but it’s nuanced.
I always believe in this idea of now-
stalgia: making something brand new
by looking back. Alexa’s mother was a
makeup artist at MAC 20 years ago. It
has all of those elements of story.
The third piece would probably be
how we are reigniting the experience
in store. We’re rolling out a brand
new look. How do we appear at these
really important places whether it’s
in your hometown or in a tourist
destination? How do we build an
experience that’s special for you?
What’s the most important
change you’ve seen in consumer
behavior over the past year
and what are you changing to
address that? D.E.: Consumer behavior is
interesting because of how people
are tuning in to live events. That, to
me, is one of the most interesting
things. It’s almost like a trending
moment that everyone’s doing at
once, like we’re seeing on TikTok.
A lot of our artists across APAC
and China are doing tons of live-
streaming. People are taking cues
from that. Trends used to come from
backstage, from films and artists.
Now, trends are coming not only
from social media stars, but they’re
happening in real life all at the same
time. We’ve seen this speed of the
Internet take commerce and trend
to a whole new direction.
What is the toughest assignment
you’ve been given and how did
you navigate it? D.E.: Probably this job is my
toughest assignment, and not for
all the reasons you would think. It
means a lot to me personally, because
I’ve always loved MAC. MAC is the
place that has always made me feel
included. Being a queer kid who grew
up in Indiana, I always found MAC to
be a place where I could explore and
play and find a community of people
like me. Having met John Demsey
when I was 19 years old and then
knowing the former creative director
and meeting Mr. [Leonard] Lauder,
you understand that it is a family and
you want to make it as magical as I
always felt it was in my heart when
I was young. So I have the job and the
responsibility and the opportunity to
deliver that to everyone around the
world. I take that as a challenge, but
it’s an honor at the same time.
What’s your favorite question
to ask when you’re interviewing
someone?
D.E.: I always ask people, “What
do you really want to do? What is
the North Star?” I want to see where
they’re going because I want to see
where they are in the journey of
getting there. If you can understand
what their big dream is, you can help
them with the steps that are going to
take them to get there.
What do you do to de-stress? D.E.: I love to shop and not to buy
a single thing. Nothing is better, to
me, than walking down Fifth Avenue
and looking at the stores and going
in and talking to the people on the
sales floor, asking them questions.
Not only does it enhance what I
do for a job, I find it so interesting
because that gives you a look into
what’s happening in culture. And I
don’t just do it in New York, I do it
anywhere I travel. At home, I usually
do absolutely nothing. I am watching
“Love Is Blind” [on Netflix]. I watch
the worst, horrible TV, which I love.
I will binge a whole thing. I love
being home and I love being left
to my own ideas.
Drew Elliott MAC Cosmetics' senior vice president and global creative director on joining the Lauder family, rethinking the brand's dot-com and de-stressing with "Love Is Blind" on Netflix. BY ALEXA TIETJEN PHOTOGRAPH BY MASATO ONODA
DIRECT CONNECT: @Drewpsie
13
APRIL 10, 2020
DETAIL ON RETAIL
NOW THAT U.S. SHOPPERS
have stocked up on enough toilet
paper to get them through the
coronavirus pandemic, they’re starting
to think about buying beauty products.
While essential purchases, like
cleaning and health-care supplies
continue to dominate consumer
spending, online beauty sales are
starting to trend upward. In the
prestige beauty category, online sales
— normally 20 percent of the U.S.
business — went up by 47 percent the
week of March 28, capturing about
90 percent of total beauty spend,
according to the NPD Group.
While until recently, people have
been preoccupied with stocking up
on the basics and not buying beauty,
“beauty fits into the next wave,” said
Wendy Liebmann, chief executive
officer of WSL Strategic Retail.
As retail store closures persist and
overall beauty sales decline — they
were down by 58 percent for the week
of March 28 versus the prior year,
according to NPD — online sales,
both in the U.S. and abroad, will play
an increasingly important role for
beauty companies as cross-border
commerce in China starts to return.
Data from Attentive Mobile
shows that while beauty sales
dropped off the week of March 9,
as the seriousness of the COVID-19
pandemic started to hit U.S. shoppers,
they have gained in the past few
weeks. Beauty is accelerating,
Attentive data shows, along with
food, home, pets, electronics, health
and outdoor equipment. Auto, sports
and certain apparel categories are
down, according to the company.
Online beauty sales were up 10
percent in March versus February,
Attentive data shows, and are pacing
to be up 13.5 percent in April versus
March, with high-growth categories
including home hair color, hair care
and skin care. Sales dipped 17.5
percent for the week ended April 6
because of promotions that had run
the prior week that boosted numbers,
according to Attentive. Fragrance and
makeup sales are down, the company
said. “It's not a big surprise there,
you can’t smell people on Zoom,” said
Brian Long, cofounder and ceo of the
text marketing business.
Data from Spate shows that Google
searches for beauty categories like
hair, skin and makeup declined
week-over-week between Feb. 23
and March 15, but have since picked
up. Searches around skin care were
up 75.7 percent week-over-week as
of March 29, while makeup was up
73.6 percent and skin was up 48.2
percent, according to Spate data.
Many retailers are seeing the lift
from that increased shopper interest.
Sephora is said to have posted a
more than 30 percent gain in its
e-commerce business in March,
for example, while smaller beauty
retailers, like Cos Bar and Credo, are
also experiencing upticks. Ulta Beauty
declined to comment for this story.
Credo's online sales posted a
triple-digit comp versus last year,
with upticks in self-care products,
including bath salts, hair masks, face
masks and peels, as well as basics,
like body wash and shampoo and
conditioner, according to cofounder
and chief operating officer Annie
Jackson. “Interesting, too, that we
saw other shifts in the business
as customers are staying in, such
as from foundation into tinted
moisturizer and from sunscreen into
self-tanner,” Jackson said.
Cos Bar saw a 216 percent lift
in online sales between March 18
and April 6, driven by Oribe Root
Touchup, masks, exfoliators and hair
bath and body products.
The Estée Lauder Cos. is seeing more
online engagement with shoppers, with
50 percent more new customers and
a 60 percent increase in chat sessions
over last year, according to Salima
Popatia, senior vice president of global
customer acquisition and retention
at Lauder. The company is leveraging
its field teams and beauty advisers
as “virtual advisers” — something a
handful of beauty companies are doing
in order to keep employees on payroll
and generate online sales.
But even with gains in online sales
and engagement, most beauty firms
are not expecting e-commerce to
be able to fully compensate for the
volumes lost from retail store closures.
Kline is predicting the beauty market
will decline further in 2020 than it did
after the Great Recession.
“It is not business as usual,” said
Oliver Garfield, Cos Bar copresident.
“I don't think that anybody is going
to be able to make up for this,” said
Kendra Butler, founder and ceo of
Alpyn Beauty. “We as a brand, instead
of trying to drive sales and execute
and make money, are like, 'Let's take
this time and get ahead of the game.'”
For Alpyn, an indie skin-care brand
sold with Sephora, Goop, Credo and
Bluemercury, that means planning
further in advance “so when we're ready
to go ahead, we're just pushing buttons
and everything's done,” Butler said.
Sans marketing, which Alpyn has
cut back on during the COVID-19
pandemic, the brand has still seen lifts
in sales both on its own dot-com and
through retail partners, Butler said.
“About [four] weeks ago we saw
e-commerce sales completely fall off
a cliff,” Butler said. “Over the past
[few] weeks, however, we’ve seen a
slow and steady increase that things
are starting to come back.”
“People are starting to understand
that this may be the new normal for
a little while, and now they need to
figure out what supplies they need in
their home to make themselves happy,”
Butler said. “If mentally you’re feeling
unbalanced, what can you control? You
can control your beauty ritual.”
Many brands have said they’re
seeing online sales surges from retail
partners too, but that logistics can
sometimes pose a problem.
“Can [retailers] replace the two-
thirds [of sales] that are done in
stores online? That’s a lot, and it’s not
that they couldn’t, but most of them
aren’t in the logistical, operational
position to do it,” Liebmann said.
Liebmann said that retailers with
established online channels should
look to capture sales as consumers
start to “hunker down.”
“That’s the next move here —
people are stocked up on all the
basics,” Liebmann said, and will look
to shop for beauty. “If you don’t have
an online presence [and] a successful
or efficient way to deliver your
beauty products, you won’t recoup
for some considerable time.”
Can Beauty E-commerce Sales Make Up for Store Closures? Beauty brands are seeing sales increase online, but it's not enough to make up for drops from retail sales. BY ALLISON COLLINS
Online beauty sales are up, but they aren't expected to make up for the volumes lost to coronavirus-related retail closures.
“Can [retailers] replace the two-
thirds [of sales] that are done in stores
online? That’s a lot, and it’s not that
they couldn’t, but most of them aren’t
in the logistical, operational position
to do it.” —wendy liebmann,
wsl strategic retail
14
APRIL 10, 2020
EYE CANDY
Spring in Their Steps¬ The Fifth Avenue Easter Day Parade is canceled this year, but it is a tradition that spans centuries, said Melissa Marra-Alvarez, co-curator of the FIT Museum’s upcoming exhibit, “Head to Toe.”
“Hats were an important fashion accessory throughout the 19th century,” she said, noting the Easter Day Parade started spontaneously in the 1870s as affluent parishioners left their Fifth Avenue churches in their finery. It quickly became an expression of sartorial prowess: “Old proverbs spoke of
bad luck for anyone who did not have something new to wear for Easter,” Marra-Alvarez said. Nowadays, hairstyles in lieu of traditional bonnets are more common for many, but Easter has become a day when people can flout their most outrageous creations. “The Easter Parade has become an extravagant display of fanciful hats, headpieces and hairstyles,” Marra-Alvarez said. “While it still is about dressing to impress, it’s very much about creativity.” Here, fanciful creations from years past.” —James Manso
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