Ecomdigest Personal Care - 09.19.2024

PLUS: Fospha's 2024 Digital Marketing Trends & Coca-Cola’s Cannes Lions dominance

Specialty Bites 🍪

Come 2025, they're ditching their in-house beauty biz and hopping on the affiliate model bandwagon. Instead of hoarding beauty products, they'll direct you to the brands' own sites to snag your skincare and makeup must-haves. This move follows their February pivot to ultra-luxury items, which, let's be honest, was a desperate attempt to revive their beauty sales.

Net-a-porter will still flaunt a beauty section on their site, but it'll be more of a fancy signpost directing you to the brands' e-commerce channels. And yes, they'll keep churning out beauty content via their editorial arm, Porter. The company is tight-lipped about which brands will join this affiliate fiesta, but their current lineup includes heavyweights like Le Labo, La Mer, and Gucci Beauty.

This shake-up isn't happening in a vacuum. The luxury e-commerce world is in turmoil. Farfetch axed its beauty arm just a year after launching it, and Matches was placed into administration by Frasers Group. Net-a-porter's beauty journey started in 2013, and they've been a launchpad for big names like Charlotte Tilbury and Dr. Barbara Sturm. But with niche brands flocking to Sephora and Ulta, it's getting tougher for luxury platforms to stay in the beauty game.

The beauty landscape is shifting, and Net-a-porter is trying to stay ahead of the curve. Will this affiliate model be their saving grace? Only time will tell.

Aaron Hefter, CEO of Imaras, discusses launching a clean, plant-based beauty supplement brand on NutraCast. Imaras differentiates itself with clinically-backed products and co-founder Sommer Ray's active involvement. The brand plans further clinical studies on hair growth, acne, and eczema relief, aiming for continued innovation and market expansion.

The beauty industry is experiencing a slowdown in product launches due to economic pressures, regulatory challenges, and shifting consumer preferences. Experts suggest this isn't necessarily bad, as it allows for more thoughtful innovation and sustainability. Brands are focusing on refining existing products and embracing meaningful, long-term research.

"To My Ships" a new personal care brand founded by Daniel Bense, combines natural ingredients with sustainable packaging. Collaborating with Formafantasma, the brand uses post-consumer recycled aluminum for refillable containers. Their debut range, "Of the Gods, features products with a unique fragrance derived from Solomon's Seal.

Performance Platters 🍽️

Fospha's latest report, "The State of E-Commerce H2 2024", reveals crucial trends that will shape your marketing strategy. What's inside:

📱 How the major platforms' KPIs have trended in 2024, and where you should be investing.

🚀 How to access Paid Social's huge scaling potential.

The most effective Google channel of 2024.

🎯 Full-funnel strategies for Meta, TikTok and Snapchat

Let's break down the platform-specific insights:

  • TikTok: Emerging as a powerhouse for efficient new customer acquisition

  • Meta: Maintaining strong performance with competitive CAC

  • Snapchat: Experiencing rapid growth, particularly effective during peak shopping periods

These findings underscore how impactful platforms like Meta, TikTok and Snapchat continue to be for driving sales - yet how underinvested they remain. It's incredible to see that brands can triple spend in Paid Social before becoming unprofitable. Success now lies in diversifying across the entire funnel, understanding the nuances of each platform, and continuously optimizing to unlock more scaling potential.

WPP and Coca-Cola topped the 2024 Cannes Lions creative charts, with Coca-Cola winning 17 awards. WPP was named Creative Company of the Year. Heineken and Apple followed in the rankings. The United States was the most creative country. The LIONS Creativity Report highlights impactful creativity driving growth.

Shopify partners with Roblox to integrate in-game shopping, allowing brands to sell physical items directly within the game. This collaboration targets Roblox's 80 million daily users, with a full launch in 2025. Shopify's president highlights the endless possibilities, emphasizing the future of immersive commerce in the digital world.

We Are Social's new study highlights five trends reshaping brand-creator collaborations: creators reinventing themselves, relatable realism, influential allies, credible creativity, and extreme influence. Brands should adapt to these shifts, partnering with creators through lifestyle changes and focusing on relevant, stable content over aspirational luxury.

Ecomdigest is a Contentive publication in the DTC Ecommerce division