The Beauty Industry – Personalization, Consumer Experiences and ERP
Historically, innovation in the cosmetics and beauty industry has been predominately focused on R&D in formulation chemistry, which was backed up by huge marketing budgets; today it’s more than formulation chemistry and marketing dollars with many factors coming into play. Beyond products being produced, personalization and the overall Customer Experience (CX) have become a focus of leading manufacturers. Today, businesses need to look at every aspect of their organization, from products to business processes in effort to provide the best overall customer-centric experience.
Personalized Consumer Experiences
Beauty manufacturers are responding to growing customer expectations with new product offerings, new retail experiences, and attention-grabbing offerings. Using foundation products as an example:
- E-commerce site Sephora.com offers 239 different kinds of foundation.
- L’Oreal has patented color technology to match consumers skin tones and textures – in 33 different shades!
- CoverGirl has launched their Custom Blend app which matches products to consumers through facial recognition, a system which analyzes and matches the consumers skin tone, intensity and undertone to a CoverGirl foundation which can then be packaged with custom packaging created on the spot by the customer selecting fonts and label colors with an option for their name to be added to their foundation bottle.
Why are there so many foundation options and new approaches and tactics in helping consumers identify their perfect foundation? Because today’s consumers are more discerning and demanding than previous generations, and to remain competitive and sustainable manufacturers need to focus on meeting and exceeding those expectations.
In the case of foundation, and many other consumer products from technology to automobiles, consumers are looking for new, innovative approaches to address their specific needs or preferences. Aging baby boomers are looking for age-defying formulas, teenagers for products that don’t clog their pores, health conscious consumers for more natural, even chemical-free options, and the list goes on. Manufacturers are tasked to innovate products as quickly as possible to meet this higher level of expectations.
Personalization Goes Beyond Products to Include Corporate Experiences
Not only do manufactures need to continually focus on product innovation, they also need to focus on market share and today market share is directly impacted by the overall Customer Experience (CX). Customer experiences expand beyond the end consumer to include vendors, suppliers, and to some extent employees. Furthermore, the CX goes beyond traditional touch points to include the Internet of Things (IoT) and social media which have dramatically impacted how we live and work. If a manufacturer is hard to do business with because of outdated business processes, then it comes at the cost of a poor CX which puts future loyalty is at risk.
ERP Technology – Improving the Experience
How easy is it to engage with your company? How are product concerns communicated back to corporate? How easy, or difficult is it for vendors and suppliers to interface with your company or its representatives? Have tools and technology been put into place to simplify the process? Are you an ‘easy-to-do-business-with’ company?
How quickly can you bring new, innovative products to market? When opportunity knocks, do you know which opportunities make the most business sense to pursue? Are you looking to grow your business? Do you have the infrastructure to manage growth? Are you challenged to keep up with changing regulatory requirements?
Our blog, The Beauty Industry – Building a Strong Foundation with ERP Technology, provides insights on how Epicor Tropos, a modern ERP solution designed specifically for process manufacturers, can have a positive impact on every aspect of your business.