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If you’ve ever tried to find the perfect shade of red lipstick online, you know that it is nearly impossible to get right just from an online product description alone.
The colors can get warped through the screen due to lighting. You can’t try it on to see if it’s glossy or matte. You don’t know how it feels, and if it’s moisturizing or drying.
You cross your fingers and hope that it works.
For many, buying beauty products and cosmetics online is a big risk, especially since they’re typically so expensive.
That’s where virtual beauty comes into play. Virtual beauty commerce is offering new solutions for eCommerce makeup and cosmetic brands that allow them to become more lucrative and customer-centered than ever before.
In this post, we’re going to take a close look at how new technology and strategies are expanding the virtual beauty field and how eCommerce brands can jump into new trends to best serve their clients.
Virtual beauty is centered around virtual tools that are designed to help customers find products that are right for them, and learn how to best use those products.
This can include everything from educational YouTube videos to virtual try-on features that are now even available through PPC platforms. Facebook Ads is even working on expanding access to augmented reality “Try On” ads that will allow customers to “try on” cosmetic products to choose items that look great on them.
There are so many different features and so much tech available to help customers determine whether or not products are right for their specific skin type, curl pattern, skin shade, and more. It takes some of the guesswork out of the equation, allowing consumers to make more informed, relevant, and confident purchasing decisions without having to try the products in store.
As beauty eCommerce purchases grow rapidly, virtual beauty features are becoming a near necessity for brands who want customers to feel great about what their purchasing (and who want to keep their return rates down).
Knowing how to get started with virtual beauty can seem intimidating at first, but the good news is that so many brands are already implementing virtual beauty tech to deliver exceptional experiences to their customers.
Let’s take a look at 4 examples of brands doing this well.
Kiehl’s has been making products since 1851, but they’ve proven that they can adapt to their times (and even ahead of many competitors) with their virtual beauty offerings.
They have an incredible YouTube channel that offers everything from product education and tutorials to customer reviews, which is a great approach for mid-funnel customers who are trying to determine which products are best for them quickly.
They also have live video chat services, allowing customers to book appointments with experts to help with choosing products for themselves or others, and to see how to use the products of their choosing. The appointments are free and easy to book, and go a long way in helping to improving the customer experience for those who need more assistance.
Ilia beauty is a largely eCommerce brand that’s expanded its reach rapidly with social media and PPC platforms. And as a largely eCommerce brand, they have several virtual beauty features that make it easier for customers to find the perfect products.
The first is their “find my shade” feature. Users can either take a quiz, or submit a makeup-free selfie that an expert will review to share the right products and shades.
I tried this out myself a few months ago, and tried the items they suggested. Each one was a perfect match, and I became a quick customer.
They also have one of the stronger live chat services that I’ve seen from some beauty eCommerce brands. You can ask a question about any of their products, including for product recommendations, and they’ll answer quickly and in-depth as needed.
This can help you sell items to customers who have questions that might otherwise prevent them from purchasing, capturing high-intent customers before they leave the site for good.
Laura Mercier is a large and well-known cosmetic company that has been taking steps to break into the virtual try-on space.
They’re one of the small number of brands who have gained access to the “Try On” features on Facebook and Instagram, which encourages customers to try on different lipstick colors in-app. If customers love the color, they’re prompted to view the lipstick on the brand’s site to purchase.
They also have a fairly new virtual try-on section on their site. They have filters to help you find relevant products by skin tone, skin undertone, product formula, finish, or coverage level. You can then “try on” relevant products, just as you can see in the example above.
When you’re looking at products that are subjective like lipstick, customers need to know what a product will look like and not just that it will match their skin tone. Some prefer bright red lipstick while others may prefer muted colors; try-on features can help get customers exactly what they want.
TYME is a hair curling and straightening iron that’s got a bit of a cult following. While the tool is dead useful (speaking from experience), it’s also got a difficult learning curve to get the technique right.
In order to ensure that customers aren’t sending the irons back in massive quantities, the company has 1:1 live video consultations with expert stylists in a virtual showroom. You get personalized help to get the exact look you want and to troubleshoot any issues you have. If your curls are too tight, too loose, uneven, or aren’t holding long enough, the experts can probably help.
One thing that TYME does so well in addition to offering these services is they promote it frequently on their ads and remind new customers of this through email. They let everyone know that they can help you get the hang of the technique so you can get your desired look.
It’s not just about getting the customers to purchase, but to keep the product, so focusing on all stages of the digital sales funnel with your virtual beauty strategy is important. TYME is a great example of that.
We’ve taken a look at a few brands that are absolutely crushing it when it comes to virtual beauty. If you want to replicate their success, here are four easy steps that can help you get started.
Not all brands have enormous, corporation-level budgets. That’s the reality of the situation.
As a result, it’s important to work smarter and not harder. It’s often going to be more cost-effective to put together YouTube videos to educate your customers and to offer live video consultations with your team members instead of hiring a developer to create augmented reality tools just for your site. The former strategies are also much faster to implement.
And the good news is that there are plenty of tools designed to offer high-level virtual beauty features to brands at accessible prices. It’s something we prize Plaza on. You can learn more about how our video commerce platform can help you sell more to your customers here.
You know which members of your team would define themselves as a “people person” and which would prefer to avoid customers at all costs. You also know who knows how to identify customer needs and solve them, and who knows how to close.
If you wouldn’t trust a team member to sell on a floor of your store, they shouldn’t be interacting with the customer in a virtual capacity either.
You should only have your charismatic, helpful, and extremely knowledgeable staff be working with live chat, video consults, and even live video on social media. This will help you put your best foot forward as a brand and to give customers the best experience possible.
When you’re choosing virtual beauty tech that’s meant to enhance and expand the customer experience, it’s essential to choose tools that are consistent in performance and easy to use for both your team and your customers.
If you want to choose video education, YouTube is an easy-to-use platform for your team and customers. You can also embed the videos on your site if you’d like, or in blog posts, with just a few clicks.
There are plenty of great eCommerce-focused live chat options. Gorgias is a personal favorite, and several of my own clients have used it to great success to overcome user objections or questions to drive more sales.
Plaza is also not only affordable but reliable when it comes to video commerce. Unlike FaceTime or Skype, it was built with eCommerce brands in mind so that customers can easily have an immersive experience on every call.
Before pulling the trigger on any new virtual beauty features, take a minute to consider what your customers will derive the most value from.
For a hair styling tool, that probably wouldn’t be a live video consult encouraging them to purchase the tool or even necessarily helping them select one. It might be a list of education videos showing how to do different hairstyles and updo’s they can create, or a live video consult showing them different ways to use the tool in a virtual showroom.
For makeup brands, try-on features can be invaluable… but so can chat options that allow customers to ask questions about ingredients, applications, or SPF properties.
Make sure that you’re thinking about the entire customer journey. Try-on features and live consults for product selections are great for customers early to mid-stage in the digital sales funnel, but if you don’t have content to show users how to use the tool or product, you might see lower retention or high return rates.
If you’re able to offer virtual beauty features for all of your customers and every stage of the buyer’s journey, your strategy will become much more effective.
Virtual beauty isn’t just the way of the future, it’s also the way of the world today. With so many brands adopting virtual beauty tech now, you don’t want to be left behind, and there’s no time to start like right now.
Follow the steps above to think about how your customers could best benefit from virtual beauty features, and what you want to offer so you can dive in right away.
Considering video commerce for your virtual beauty eCommerce brand? Learn more about what makes Plaza the ideal solution here.
