Online Beauty Consumers May Be Loyal to Brands--But Not to Retailers or Sites, Finds A.T. Kearney Study

NEW YORK, April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- While online sellers of beauty and personal care products continue to capture more market share, online shopper loyalty seems to be elusive, according to A.T. Kearney's latest report on online beauty shopping.

"The study, which is based on a survey of 800 American online beauty shoppers, finds that 67 percent of consumers use four or more websites to fulfill their shopping needs," notes Hana Ben-Shabat, A.T. Kearney partner and author of the study—which indicates that both brands and retailers who sell beauty products online need to rethink how they build stronger loyalty from consumers.

Other key findings include:

• Supply is shaping demand: The growth of e-commerce sales is a direct product of increasingly more sophisticated supply-side strategies
• "Influencers" are on the rise: Consumers are increasingly trusting "people like them" to make purchasing decisions—undermining the brand authority as the only source of information
• Shoppers seeking greater engagement: Beauty consumers are calling for a higher level of personalization from their preferred brands

"The growing challenge of loyalty, the daily demand on retailers and brands to deliver a seamless experience between online and offline, and the need to 'give up some power' to new sources of influence are indicators of the current state of the beauty industry," Ben-Shabat says.

"Succeeding in this new environment will require an artful integration of all channels, and adoption of new technologies to enhance personalization and authentic communication."

The full report can be found at https://www.atkearney.com/consumer-products-retail/beauty-and-the-e-commerce-beast.

About A.T. Kearney
A.T. Kearney is a leading global management consulting firm with offices in more than 40 countries. Since 1926, we have been trusted advisors to the world's foremost organizations. A.T. Kearney is a partner-owned firm, committed to helping clients achieve immediate impact and growing advantage on their most mission-critical issues. For more information, visit www.atkearney.com.

SOURCE A.T. Kearney

Related Links

http://www.atkearney.com