Trailblazing an on-site social commerce model, the beauty company Glossier has broken the conventional rules of online shopping. Where traditionally most retailers and brands have focused their eCommerce ecosystem on breadth of choice, Glossier has brought a consumer-centric experience to life, offering breadth of connections.
A New Method to Lure the Customer
Taking the good of the in-store shopping experience, accounting for the bad, and adjusting to build the best place for customers to visit, learn, engage and shop in the world, Glossier has taken their brand out of the equation. Glossier’s business model empowers customers to share their knowledge with other customers. Why? Because what a brand says about a product no longer matters. What matters is what the customers say.
Glossier’s original platform, intothegloss.com, provides a community for skincare seekers to connect with peers sharing similar needs within the world of beauty. Users can access interviews with ordinary people providing tips, tutorials and product reviews for a variety of brands across the category. Whether you want to know “How To Do Your Makeup In the Heat” or hear tips for healthier skin from an organic facialist, ITG serves as an authentic content haven.
ITG served as the springboard to launch Glossier, a modern beauty brand focused on making products inspired by the people who use them. Glossier views the beauty category as an experience, recognizing that people have become obsessed with sharing their experiences and are looking to peers—and not experts/brands—when shopping.
Shopping for beauty in physical retail, you walk into a store and are greeted by a sales associate you didn’t choose, who may have different makeup and skincare preferences than you. When shopping online, you may come across 1-star reviews because a lipstick was too pink, but you love pink. These shopping conditions are not ideal and are no longer reflective of how consumers are making their choices.
At Glossier.com, you’re greeted by a satisfied customer with similar skin concerns as you – a place with people to help you find the right products, learn more about them and understand how to use them. This is Glossier’s main focus: the idea of empowering customers to share deeper connections with constituents they choose to connect with because they find them more relevant.
A Case for Change
eCommerce has historically been a space where most retailers and brands focus on what they believe shoppers value most: breadth of choices, price, fulfillment options, product information, product pictures, etc. However, if they’re all focusing on those variables, then what’s differentiating them? What makes a shopper buy throw pillows on Amazon vs. Wayfair.com?
While this model of social commerce may be in its infancy, it may be the future of the Internet. Ask yourself these questions: How can you translate that feeling of a high-touch, 1:1 experience typical of a physical store to the online world? How do you ensure the experience you’re providing is relevant, personalized and wanted? Most importantly, what steps are you taking today to infuse a customer-minded approach with your brand to better prepare for the new world of tomorrow?
Emily Weiss, founder and CEO of Glossier, puts it bluntly: “…in this world where there is no scarcity of choice, you have to give customers a reason to keep choosing you.”
Contributed by: Katie Oden, Integer Dallas
Image Source: Forbes.com
