Lane Barrocas’ Post

I really like this quick and easy read on SEPHORA and how they have been pivotal in the transformation of the beauty industry and how customers shop for beauty products over the past 20+ years. What beauty retailers such as SEPHORA, Ulta Beauty and Bluemercury have delivered to the marketplace with their open-sell environments and omni-brand trained beauty specialists to advise is the ability to explore and learn with a focus on individual product performance, a shift from the more traditional single-brand approach. The reality is, there is incredible innovation across many brands and the customer now has the ability to seamlessly shop across them to find the right product to meet their individual needs. Additionally, with the introduction of dynamic sampling and loyalty programs, the client is more likely to remain engaged, build trust and establish a long-term relationship with these retailers, whether that be online or in-store. https://lnkd.in/e4XeY9cy

With Ulta Beauty earnings report out and not as robust as we have seen from them in previous quarters, it is important to take in the full story. Ulta has done an amazing job continuing to build its loyalty program and provide exceptional innovation across both mass and prestige. Their challenge is a very dynamic market where the retailer landscape continues to become more competitive as we see both more retailers and points of distribution, a blurring of the lines between mass and prestige (previously space that was primarily owned by Ulta) and an acceleration of the digital/online business overall with brands making a much greater investment in driving their own DTC allowing them to own the relationship with the end consumer. While looking at Ulta performance in isolation this may seem to be a challenge, for the industry we should all be excited and driven by the fact that the beauty industry remains incredibly healthy and resilient - the pie continues to grow, how it gets split out is where we are seeing the greatest impact.

Great post by Layla Hakamiun reinforcing the health of the beauty industry! While we have had an amazing ride over the past few years in beauty, it is clear the ride is far from over. Prestige continues to lead and the growth remains across all categories. The consumer is engaged and the brands are continuing to bring forth amazing innovation, education and marketing to support.

While there has been a lot of press on the "beauty industry slowdown", the reality is that the we remain in a positive position and continue to lead retail overall. Prestige continues to lead the way with fragrances +13% and skincare +10%. Additionally, prestige hair continues to grow double digits driven by innovation and the expansion of product assortments to address hair wellness. The customer is choosing differently based on the challenging economic environment, however they continue to invest in beauty. As a brand (or retailer) I would be cautious pulling back investment in this incredibly competitive environment as even if growth simmers down from what we have experienced the past two years, the race for market share remains an opportunity. https://lnkd.in/gMrzqpND

While there has been a lot of press on the "beauty industry slowdown", the reality is that the we remain in a positive position and continue to lead retail overall. Prestige continues to lead the way with fragrances +13% and skincare +10%. Additionally, prestige hair continues to grow double digits driven by innovation and the expansion of product assortments to address hair wellness. The customer is choosing differently based on the challenging economic environment, however they continue to invest in beauty. As a brand (or retailer) I would be cautious pulling back investment in this incredibly competitive environment as even if growth simmers down from what we have experienced the past two years, the race for market share remains an opportunity. https://lnkd.in/gMrzqpND

Really exciting to see this expansion from Ulta! Hoping this is the first of many global markets to be opened by Ulta in the coming years. Tremendous opportunity to make this a GLOBAL beauty retailer.

Congratulations to MASKTINI for their most recent launch onto SkinStore.com & Dermstore. What a great partnership! https://lnkd.in/gZ37nKD2

What a great partnership! Excited to see the launch of Symbiome on Dermstore and SkinStore.com. Congratulations Larry Weiss, Adam Klausner and to the entire Symbiome team! Very exciting!

Thank you Beauty Independent for bringing this piece to life! The roster of the most talented analysts and investors in the industry make this a must-read for anyone in beauty. I think the overall view is that we can be cautiously optimistic that our positive momentum will continue into the 4th quarter. That being said, as always, there will be winners and losers based on having the right products at the right time in the right channels of distribution supported by a balanced and appropriate promotionality strategy driven by efficient and effective marketing. Good luck to all as holiday selling begins soon!