It is now clear that the beauty industry was one of the most affected by the impact of Covid19 in 2020.
As well as the challenges that all retailers faced since March – shop closures followed by re-openings with limitations; reduced customer confidence and declining High Street footfall – the cosmetic sector also faced hygiene restrictions which impacted on the usual customer experience.
Despite research that the cosmetic market will grow to $648 Billion by 2026, UK retailers will need to develop robust strategies and stand out marketing to retain customer loyalty on the High Street.
Cosmetic display stands and POS can help them achieve this.
The look and feel of many of cosmetic display stands will change. Samples, testers and free demonstrations were a mainstay of much instore marketing strategy, but this has changed. Even if regulations relax, customer sentiment is unlikely to.
Therefore brands and retailers will need to rethink the customer experience and that will impact on the design of the stands. Ironically, contactless technology that has driven many of the hand sanitiser stations to be found in shops may be increasingly used to allow customers to continue to sample cosmetics, perfumes and beauty products without testers.
There is also an opportunity to include new tech in the stands. Bluetooth marketing and digital display marketing offers the opportunity to add an extra dimension of engagement for customers.
The latest market research into the sector states that “attractive marketing strategies and changing packaging styles are also expected to stimulate the market growth” and cosmetic display stands, Point of Sale and instore displays will be the sharp end of these strategies and packaging styles. In an increasingly competitive market – and with many withheld launches likely to come to the market at the same time – creating high-impact ‘Instagrammable’ FSDUs, displays and POS will be as important as digital strategy.
Finally across mature sophisticated markets, sustainability is an increasing concern for cosmetic buyers. Organic, natural products are a growing market, and sustainable packaging and ingredients are important buying factors, especially for younger buyers. POS needs to support a brands sustainable credentials taking advantage of an increasingly wide choice of sustainable materials and carbon-neutral production techniques that can become part of the brand story.
