Understanding the Market
Before jumping into specific strategies, it is important to firstly understand why people use certain products. For example, battling with teenage-like skin troubles leads you to look for effective solutions and what you choose is heavily influenced by how products are presented online.
Looking at the top-performing beauty websites such as Boots, Look Fantastic, Beauty Bay, Cult Beauty, and The Ordinary, gives us insights into the successful tactics these industry leaders use to capture and convert traffic. These brands don’t just spend money on marketing, they use strategies to ensure they appear exactly where the customer needs them.
Analysing Different Strategies
We started by breaking down the strategies used by each brand, exploring both their strengths and areas for improvement.
Boots
Being a household name in the beauty industry, Boots utilises a vibrant colour scheme and promotional banners like “£10 Tuesdays” to draw attention. While eye-catching, their strategy to cross-sell products sometimes backfires by pushing their in-house brand, ‘No7’, potentially diverting customers from their original search intent. This tactic can impact customer interest if it is not aligned with their immediate needs.
Look Fantastic
We think this site does a great job in creating a sense of urgency and social proofing. Tags like “Selling fast” alongside products not only tell customers about popular items but also, it encourages quicker purchases. Their clean, streamlined design enhances the user experience, making navigation and product discovery simple.
The Ordinary
As we know, The Ordinary specialise in clinical formulations, their website focuses on product education and transparency. Detailed descriptions and benefits of each product are clearly outlined, creating trust and helping consumers make informed choices. The minimalistic design means that the products and their benefits are the focal point of the customer’s journey.
Beauty Bay
Targeting a younger demographic, Beauty Bay uses bright colours and a dynamic layout to keep the shopping experience engaging. At Strafe, we think by making their platform visually appealing it attracts their target audience and is also easy to navigate.
Cult Beauty
Similarly to Look Fantastic, Cult Beauty uses clean aesthetics and strategic product placement. However, at times their site feels very similar to Look Fantastic, which could suggest a lack of unique branding. Standing out in a competitive market is challenging, so unique branding is key.
Lessons and Applications
The main takeaways from our findings is that they all use a number of strategies that any beauty brand can apply to their websites in order to boost their conversion rates.
Firstly is visual impact, like the Boots example, using vibrant colours and eye-catching banners to draw attention is a great way to engage the user. However, we want to highlight that it is important to make sure these elements are strategically placed to enhance the customer’s journey rather than distract from it.
Next up is social proofing and at Strafe, we think Look Fantastic’s website does a great job on this by integrating social proofing and a sense of urgency on their product pages. For example, displaying limited stock levels or how fast an item is selling can significantly influence buying decisions.
Here at Strafe, we feel the clarity and education as shown in The Ordinary’s example with detailed, transparent information helps to create clarity around your products and build trust with your audience.
Lastly, using a unique and dynamic design for brands targeting a younger demographic, like Beauty Bay’s approach creates modern, energetic designs that resonate with younger consumers.
Final Thoughts
In order to successfully enhance your e-commerce website, you need to strongly consider the strategic functionality. Implementing the lessons we have highlighted from industry leaders can help convert casual browsers into loyal customers, boosting both your conversion rates and brand reputation.
At Strafe, we feel the key to successfully boosting your conversion rates in the beauty industry is all about creating a compelling, engaging, and informative customer experience that resonates with your target audience.