The cosmetics and personal care industry is looking ahead.
We have arrived at a moment in the CoronaVirus crisis where market researchers, futurists, trend spotters, and analysts from every sector of the beauty industry are weighing in with projections and thinking through scenarios of tomorrow.
Part of my work is to identify future beauty business trends, to listen to and learn from the experiences of brands and manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers and to distill that information into useful insights that will help you make the right decisions for your business.
Truth be told, I have too many insights to stuff into one short video. But here are a handful of beauty business culture shifts that are worth keeping in mind as we move forward:
The Digital Beauty Supply Chain is Here
Digital connections between ingredient suppliers and manufacturers will be stronger from here on out. Countless industry suppliers, including Colonial Chemical, Gattefosse, DSM, and Dow, have swiftly developed online programming to reach the scientists that work with their products.
A Fresh Look at Beauty Product Safety Protocols
Traceable, tamper-proof product safety and sanitary sampling will take precedence on beauty discovery platforms. Virtual try-on technology, single-use sachets, and in-store disposables will see a boost during and after the crisis. And this is a space where there’s room for real innovation now too.
A Global Approach to Beauty Retail and Raw Materials
Well-diversified global supply and distribution strategies will be paramount for beauty businesses of every size. While beauty brands that are sourced and made and sold locally have had certain advantages in the virus crisis, this moment also reinforces the inherent risk of the hyper-local approach, since it’s now all too apparent that any one market can swiftly and easily be shuttered.
The New Role of Beauty Service Professionals
Customer service and experiential retail are in a cocoon phase. Salon pros and in-store beauty consultants that are now offering text, video, and social media sessions with their clients, have even more ownership of the customer relationship. And their unique expertise is all the more apparent as well. This will impact what beauty services and experiential retail look like going forward.
Green Beauty is Getting a Lift from COVID Pandemic
And environmental sustainability is taking on a new sort of importance and a wider meaning. The virus crisis has, for many, accentuated the power of the planet and the respect that nature and biology, and, if you will, that act acts of god warrant.
At the same time, the difficulty of predicting global supply chain challenges during this moment has helped both conventional and indie beauty makers see the value and the portability of biotech ingredient production in a whole new light.
All the while, many beauty consumer are learning first-hand the benefits of reusables and that there is no need for the repeated expense and the waste of certain cosmetics and personal care disposables, like cotton rounds.
And one the shelter-in-place and stay-home edicts expire, there will be significant data on how much our commuter and travel economies contribute to global pollution.
Our Decisions Matter
In short, what each of us is doing or not doing now—as professionals and as consumers—along with what our companies are doing now and what our customers and partners and stakeholders are doing and not doing now; this is what will shape the new future of beauty.
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this DUviews item was originally posted to LinkedIn and now appears on DeannaUtroske.com