Niche Beauty
How niche brands are changing the beauty landscape (IV)
What does a good partnership look like to you in travel retail? What more can retailers do to enhance the appeal of your beauty category to travellers?
AESOP has grown a cult following thanks to its gender-neutral, minimalist aesthetic and popular scents
Aesop: We look for partners who understand our brand and the value we feel we can bring to their consumers both through differentiation and our limited local market distribution.
We understand the challenges the channel has experienced over recent years and believe now is the time to explore different brands who can add to the overall shopping experience within travel retail. This is so that travellers not only find products that are unique and new, but also discover an approach which is somewhat different to the industry norms.
Mark Brewer (Egyptian Magic) : Communication, continuous product education, training and a passion for selling the product is key. For retailers, we find that strong and impactful visual merchandising is a key ingredient to making Egyptian Magic a success, especially highlighting the multi-purpose and travel-friendly aspects of the product.
Frédéric Fekkai (Fekkai) : In total transparency, expansion into travel retail was something that we originally planned for later in the brand life cycle. Still, many retail partners contacted us because of the legacy of trust from of the Fekkai name and the desire for clean, vegan, and sustainable products. I spent the first two years after repurchasing the brand and being hyper-focused on product and planet, investing all our financial resources into that. Now that we have the most efficacious and eco-conscious assortment, we are focused on driving brand awareness and reach.
For a clean beauty start-up brand, a good travel retail partnership looks like having dedicated zones for clean beauty and dedicated visual merchandising space for education so that the brands can communicate their USPs. Travel retail is very much productivity driven. For clean beauty brands, we need additional shelf space to tell the stories and share ‘the why’ of the products as well as extra time to build awareness to meet those productivity targets.
A pioneer in the luxury haircare space, Fekkai seeks to break new ground in travel retail with its travel-friendly line of targeted products
Michael Malul London is a fragrance brand made by retailers for retailers
Tom Watson (Michael Malul London) : Michael Malul is a fragrance house created by retailers, for retailers. Because we only work directly with retailers, we have the knowledge and understanding of how to work together to get the absolute best out of our presence in the category and during specific activations. Travel retail is a key component of our growth strategy as we continue to expand internationally and build global awareness for our brand.
Debbie Sleeman (Polished London) : Building meaningful long-term business relationships is the most important thing for a partnership to be successful and to work. Travel retail requires lots of planning and lots of hard work and communication is a must. However, the sky really is the limit as travel retail offers incredible opportunities. In such a busy fast paced environment it's important to offer the consumer an engaging experience including digital execution at a very high level.
Edward Muller (Selvedge Grooming): We like to partner with our end consumers and get domestic retailers involved domestically. Although our business is primarily in travel retail, our product ranges can work well in lifestyle zones like a male grooming section. Partnering with an airport based salon where the products can be used as well as purchased in the shops, takes us in the direction of lifestyle retailing, which is becoming more important in the retail space to engage consumer interest in modern airports. This would work well with cruise retailers too.
Margaret Dabbs: We partner collaboratively to meet mutually beneficial goals, increase revenue and profit, while exceeding customer expectations. We want to be considered for all marketing and product placement opportunities. A good partnership will work to maximise exposure of brands with great USPs such as ours, where no one else covers these areas of the market. Margaret Dabbs London is a professional specialist brand that has unique patented ingredients and USPs and is known around the world, so it is important that retailers help ensure that this messaging is communicated to the consumer.
Selvedge Male Grooming products can also be used in wellness areas in airports such as pop-up barbershops or salons
Rachel Williams (Albus & Flora) : Given Albus & Flora's limited distribution currently, travel retail will be the first contact & touchpoint for many consumers. It will be a key sales driver but also serve as a very important opportunity to raise brand awareness. With that in mind I think it is incredibly important that all stakeholders agree on how the brand is presented and ensure that key messaging and visuals are consistent and clear, while also considering the country and preferences of potential consumers.
Shapeaccelerator: A good partnership is a long lasting one with a win-win strategy for all involved. Looking for margins and ignoring the final customer is not the right way, thinking backwards is. The customer is willing to spend money on a better body, especially with products containing natural ingredients like Shapeaccelerator. So, good presentation of the product and driving marketing towards it will benefit all stakeholders. Retailers can make joint promotions but information and presentation is key.
Miriam Ciantar (Baroque & Rose) : Trust is of utmost importance. While we are striving to lessen our footprint, manufacturers and retailers need to meet halfway to promote sustainability. Education is key, Baroque & Rose has a different proposition to any brand that is currently in the market. Understanding our brand from a sales perspective is key.
Mark Wood (Skin Generics) : Being a partner not just a customer allows brands to deliver their message in line with the retailer’s message. Strong communication is essential in any partnership.
David Herdman (Beautypro) : A good partnership in travel retail would involve collaboration between us as a brand and the retailer to create a seamless and enjoyable shopping experience for travellers. Good partnerships focus on creating a memorable and enjoyable shopping experience for travellers. By offering a diverse range of products, personalised recommendations, and incorporating technology into the shopping experience, retailers can enhance the appeal of their beauty category to travellers and drive more sales.
For example, The new BEAUTYPRO Hydratest Skin Analysis Device is an innovative, pocket sized device that measures the skin’s hydration and oil levels, helping you to maximise the impact of your skincare routine. It tells you what your skin needs, right from the source.
Skin Generics offers a high concentration of actives at mid-level price points
BEAUTYPRO recently launched a new collection of beauty devices that include the Hydratest skin diagnosis tool, T-Bar sonic vibrating device and a 4-in-1 LED wand
Karina Lassen (Mums With Love) : A good partnership for Mums with Love in travel retail is one that is mutually beneficial and focused on driving sales and brand awareness. Overall, a good partnership in travel retail is one that is built on trust, collaboration, and a shared commitment to delivering exceptional customer experiences. By working together, we can create a win-win situation for both our brand and our retail partners, and drive growth and success in the travel retail channel.
Andrew Glass (Skin Generics) : As an indie brand, it’s important for us to find retail partners who will help promote launches with marketing/advertising opportunities and really stand behind the brand. It's so easy for smaller brands to get lost in the mix when there are major brands with huge marketing budgets. Indie brands are known for innovative formulations and really pushing the trends that the larger brands follow, but the retailer really has to help them gain that brand awareness with their customers.
Sophie and Hannah Pycroft (Spectrum) : It's important for makeup to feel effortless for the everyday beauty lover. We’re not all makeup artists and retailers should encourage those who might be inexperienced with brushes to think of them as part of an everyday easy routine. A lot of our travel sets are just five to six brushes, which is all you would really need if the tools were high quality, making our sets appealing to everyone who wants a good finish for their makeup, and to boost their beauty confidence.
Christopher Chong (Thameen London) : Support and mutual understanding are key elements for a thriving partnership. Niche luxury brands are small operations with modest marketing budgets. We need retailers to understand that we need marketing presence in terms of POS campaigns and product training. We would like retailers to help us to reach a growth state in which we could afford these activities.
This Works: A good partnership is consumer-centric and collaborative. We always look for opportunities to bring the best products and value to meet the demand of global travellers and we believe in the power of collaboration to take these partnership to the next level. This is especially true as wellness has increasingly become part of the wider beauty category post pandemic but remains niche in travel retail. We have recently launched travel retail exclusive duo sets of our best-selling product, the Deep Sleep Pillow spray with Dufry and are looking forward to working with retailers to further showcase the brand’s expertise and engage with global travellers in store and online.
Lee Cristou (Kroma Makeup) : A good partnership means that retailers understand our brand and are key to share our story. To do this, retailers can help by hosting exciting events and customer engagements.
Spectrum’s six-brush travel sets make the perfect souvenir and can help simply traveller’s beauty routines
Grown Alchemist: We greatly value our enduring and trusted relationships with our travel partners, in this case Gebr. Heinemann, with whom we have worked closely for many years and which has already contributed considerably to the growth of Group brands, such as L’OCCITANE en Provence.
Increasingly, retailers are responding to the needs and desires of both the traveller and brands by ensuring that they are supported with more flexibility and innovation in terms of brand visibility and in delivering their core messages and goals. This is critical as brands respond to the current customer desire for more dynamic and nnovative in-store experiences, sampling and digital retailtainment.
Victoria Neymann (Verdilab) : We hope that, in the very near future, travel retailers will start incorporating more and more young and fresh brands like Verdilab. Travel retailers should listen to the concerns of their changing consumers and address their real needs. Otherwise, we will all lose the opportunity to grow our business in our industry. Verdilab is a brand that can really help travel retailers build and grow this new segment.
Dimitri Weber (Goldfield & Banks) : The best partnerships are ones that support young and upcoming brands and give them the chance to find their niches in the market. Looking at the long term is also essential, since that’s what drives sustainable growth. But at the same time, being reactive to changes in the industry is important, particularly when these changes are viewed in light of long-term goals.
The Moodie Davitt eZine
Issue 323 | 5 May 2023
The Moodie Davitt eZine is published 14 times per year by The Moodie Davitt Report (Moodie International Ltd). © All material is copyright and cannot be reproduced without the permission of the Publisher. To find out more visit www.moodiedavittreport.com and to subscribe, please e-mail kristyn@moodiedavittreport.com