Video: Beauty Unpacked | Duration: 3336s | Summary: Beauty Unpacked

Transcript for "Beauty Unpacked": Hello, everyone. Okay. So before we start off, thanks everyone for joining us. I know everyone's kind of all over the world, different time zones, different places. So thanks for joining us for one of our first webinars of the year. Really excited to dive into beauty. We were just talking about this such a integral part of everyone's life just because there's so many different self care products. So really excited about it. My name is Franchesca. I also go by Fran if someone calls me Fran, but I'm one of the senior partner managers here at ShipBob. We help brands fulfill, more efficiently and optimize their fulfillment from brands that outsource with us, brands that use our technology in house, and our goal is to help brand scale. And really excited to sit down with you guys, and our partners here, our top partners to talk about tips and tricks and just strategies and ways of thinking about different areas of your business to optimize for a beauty customer and a beauty brand. So before we could begin, I know some people already have put it in the chat. But if you can link your website URL to your brand, just share it so people can see, because I know we have a lot of emerging brands on here that maybe people haven't seen yet, or they're very specific to one marketplace. So if you want to drop in the link to your brand so we can share that, and then I'm gonna let our speakers introduce themselves and their company. Let's start off with SJ. Hello, everyone. SJ here from Justuno. Our whole focus is about the on-site experience delivered via pop ups. And it's not your typical pop ups, you know, you see on any kind of blog or, like, article. It's pop ups that are meant to convert, And it all starts from your 1st welcome lead capture that, hopefully, a lot of us or all of us have some variation on our website, to the return visitor that hasn't purchased yet. So we really try to make the most out of getting engagement out of any visitor that comes to your website, primarily, you know, based off of source and what the actual click through intent was. So I'm excited to share more about pop ups, on-site, kinda what you can do with that, and how that fits into this unique stage if you're a brand that's just getting into scaling. And it's a good time to test and great time of the year to do that too. Awesome. Thanks, Eshe. And Lauren, we'll kick it off to you. Hello, everyone. I'm Lauren. I work at Tenuity as a director client partner. Tenuity is one of the largest independent performance marketing agencies in the country. And as a client partner, I lead performance marketing teams to develop and implement beauty driven strategies. So really, really excited to share some of those with you all today. Thanks for joining us. And then we're gonna kick it over to Sarah. Thanks, Fran. Hey, everyone. I'm Sarah Kang, senior technology and logistics partner manager at AfterShip. I've been with the AfterShip team for almost 3 years now, focusing on our ecosystem integrations. So AfterShip, for those that are not familiar, is a post purchase platform. It's actually trusted by over 20,000 global brands. And I'm super excited to join this beauty impact session as we work with so many amazing beauty brands today, including names like Sephora, Fresh, Kylie Cosmetics, Refi, P Louise, just to name a few. So I'm really excited to be here with you all. Thanks, Sarah. And lastly, Alex. Thanks, Fran. Hi, everyone. My name is Alex. I'm the leading partnership manager here at Loyalty Line. We're the number one rated loyalty platform on the Shopify, and just excited to be here and learn more about Beauty Industry. So, yeah, great to be here. Awesome. Thanks, everyone, for the intros. Also too, if you guys have questions, pop them in the chat. Like, we'll either address them in the moment or at the end if we have some time left. We'll address them then. But I see a lot of people posted the link to their website, so so thanks for sharing. Everyone can kinda have a little shopping moment and see, even post holiday, if they wanna keep shopping. So let's kick it off with the questions, and I don't have these memorized. So I'm I'm talking to you guys while I'm looking in another place. But crazy stat, the beauty industry is projected to reach 580,000,000,000 by 2027. So we got 2 years to do that, but with opportunity comes fierce competition. We're already seeing this with TikTok shop, Instagram ads, people being able to shop everywhere everywhere. So what is your number one tip this year to stand out in such a crowded market? And let's kick that off with Alex at Loyalty Line. Yeah. It's a great question, Fran. I think our number one tip this year is probably personalization. So I'd say particularly in this space, what we're seeing is people use loyalty points incentivized, you know, quizzes and beauty profiles to find out their skin type or hair type. So from here, they're using 0 or first party data to provide deeper personalization across email, SMS, and and push notifications as well. What this is doing, this also aligns to what younger generations are looking for when making purchases. So for example, Gen z is still leading the, the change in demanding that beauty brands they purchase from are sustainable, diverse, and inclusive. So digging into this data can quickly show areas where you can look to adapt your brand to include the customer involving values, and to make sure that your loyalty program reflects those values as well. So what we're seeing is that's how you turn shoppers into into lifelong fans. So with loyalty line, for example, you can use loyalty data to understand that segmentation and help you make more informed decisions about your intent strategy. So, yeah, I'd say that's my that's my number one tip. I love that. I feel like personalization's such a huge focus. Lauren, did you have something to add? I was gonna say I'd love to piggyback on that because that's kind of the direction that I I was going to recommend as well. I think, a way to tap into that even more from a performance marketing perspective is to really lean into AI to help us even personalize things more than just a human on the other side looking at data and, using that to drive digital media strategies. To Alex's point, consumers aren't really looking for generic or one size fits all solutions anymore. They want those brand interactions that feel like they understand the unique identity of the consumer and they wanna align with the values of the brand. So this gives brands a little bit of space to be bold in their brand storytelling, really leaning into AI to use as a lever to continue those authentic connections. And I know for a lot of brands, we're working alongside smaller and scrappier teams. So those folks who maybe don't have bigger budgets or bigger teams are leaning into AI to help craft those genuine experiences and, help Virgin Out Media in a way that they wouldn't be able to without. I love that because I feel like a lot of the brands we work with, even brands doing $1,000,000 plus of revenue, have a 2 person, 3 person operations team. So I can only imagine when they're doing the strategic initiatives for other areas of their business, they probably have one person or someone's wearing many hats. Like, a lot of us kinda do, but I love that. Sarah, I feel like this kinda dovetails into, like, tracking as well in the customization. So, like, what are your thoughts on tips and kinda how it relates to everyone else's? Yeah. Absolutely, Fran. I I definitely agree with everyone that personalization approach is so, so key here to really standing out. And if if we're talking about that automation piece, definitely one of the tips that I wanted to add in is just talking about the entire customer journey and the entire journey that, your customers have with your brand in particular. So one area that's often overlooked that Fran just mentioned really is the post purchase experience. Your customers have I mean, they've already trusted you enough to buy from you, but how you treat them afterwards really determines whether they come back or they tell their friends about your brand. Instead of sending your customers to a generic tracking page, why not create a customized personalized branding experience tracking experience, sorry, that really feels like an extension of your storefront? So typically brands using AfterShip tracking have really transformed their post purchase touch points into opportunities for upselling and engagement by personalizing transactional, transactional notifications and tracking pages with those tailored recommendations. Some of our brands have actually, generated over $30,000 in incremental revenue in just a year. In today's market, that relationship doesn't end just at checkout. That's really where we feel like it begins. So to elevate your post purchase experience is really crucial to staying top of mind, ahead of all the competition in an already crowded beauty space. I love that. I'm gonna add in ShipBob stuff just because it kinda goes with it. There's so many different ways to create a great customer experience. You can do customized packaging. I also need like, think with pulling data as well as just figuring out, like, what does your customer care about? And, like, why do they buy from you? I think the other partners talked about that, but, like, that's something I look at. And sometimes it is a custom unboxing experience. It is education of the product. And from a fulfillment aspect, just making sure I think, like, the the the only thing that really matters is making sure it's affordable fulfillment and it's fast and you communicate. All the other stuff's kind of added just depending on who your customer ICP is and what they actually care about. So you can do a custom unboxing experience. You can have a simple, and very clear returns policy. But I think if you get really strategic on how can I make sure that my customers have access to my product? Because with, the changes in omnichannel and and especially with beauty products that most of the brands on here are listening to, people need it in the moment. They needed it yesterday. If you don't have it available, they'll probably buy it from someone else. Or if they can't get it online fast enough, they're gonna go to Target, Ulta, Sephora, whatever is in their network, and they're gonna go and get it in store. So thinking about that of, like, where does my customer shop? How often do they need this? Do they have subscriptions? Can I offer subscriptions? And thinking about those things just so you can make sure that they have a great fulfillment experience. And there's definitely other levers you can pull, having inventory close to customers, and just using different carriers. So, like, if something's down, then also, like, the orders are not being held up by 1 carrier. So I'm out I won't get too much of the nitty gritty. I think if you are thinking about fulfillment and want consultation, at least from any of these partners, we can get more into the nitty gritty, but there's a lot of things that focus on optimizing the experience alongside with Sarah's tracking. Like, the tracking experience is giving updates to where the fulfillment is at, and so it's, like, sometimes things don't go as planned. Like, I've seen orders get stuck during Black Friday, Cyber Monday and, like, be stuck and then eventually, like, make it to me after, like, a week of delays. But I was in constant contact with that brand because they had a customized tracking solution. So I feel like all of our solutions altogether, you you just kinda figure out the mix, but just making sure you communicate to customers as well as, like, try to focus on optimizing that they get the product on time and also within their expectations is kind of important. And then also, SJ, what do you have from the just, you know, viewpoint on this? Yeah. For just, you know, I can tie it together with on-site, like, using your website to be really repetitive this season and stand out. And that's because there's we all know. There's so many things pulling our attention. Right? And the ways that you can really be repetitive on-site is through AI. That's, like, the quickest way to do it right now. And so where we come into that is product recommendations on your website. Very similar to, like, what Sarah was saying post purchase. Great time to upsell, cross sell. Like, that happens way before then, and is that whole experience that, to Franchesca's point, like, if you're making that really great unboxing experience, like, that's actually a great point to ask for a referral. Just make sure they know about your referral process. If you've already built up all of these points of, like, recommendation, using their data that you know about them in a really smart way to, like, give them something that's really interesting. So repetition by using product recommendation carousels in various spots is going to get you a long way, not only in, like, knowing that for example, like, paid traffic. Maybe they're more interested in the upsell carousel versus your customized carousel that you made. That just you as a brand, or you as a marketer, like, you think that's the best recommendation. Right? So I think there's a lot of things you can test there with how like which algorithms you use when it comes to product recs, which I'll throw a link in the chat for you guys to check out. But just being repetitive, like, don't be afraid to have your product recommendations on the homepage, on the product page, even more, like, higher up before they have to keep scrolling down. That's super important. Or just triggered product recommendations after they fulfill a quiz from your lead capture. That's, like, the next level of, like, getting data to use it right away in that same session. Like, we're all about getting something out of that visit that someone is clicking through, whatever it is, and especially if they're paid. Right? Like, you wanna see some kind of ROI out of that. And the first way is relevant recommend really relevant products, and to give them the opportunity to kinda tell you what they're interested in, which you can track those clicks of what people actually add to cart, what people are actually browsing through. And I realize this is more effective if you have a wider product catalog. That makes sense. So I will call out, just because I took a look at all the URLs that came through. If you're more of like a 1 to 2 product deal going on right now, I think that's a perfect time to really explore other partnerships that are, like, really maybe not totally beauty driven, but still in the same arena, like, still the same persona. Who was it? We were talking about it. Let me put it down here. Oh, yeah. Tippy type. I just saw you. I hadn't heard about you before, and that's totally my bad. But it's like, yes, you're on this webinar, we're tapping into beauty strategies here, but, like, in that way, you kinda extend it into a different, like, a different way that you can attract those shoppers and customers. So If you are dealing with that, maybe, limited, yeah, catalog at this point, looking into partnerships and seeing how you can build out recommendations based off of that, I think is a good place to start. And if anything, really gets you exposed to just a new clientele out of that. Yeah. This is a great place to talk about collabs, actually. Anyone in the chat? I love that. Thanks for calling that out. Yeah. That's great. And I don't think we have any questions on that in the chat. So we'll go to the next question. Once you differentiate your brand, what should you focus on to scale effectively and sustainably? So, Akshay, we'll start with you this time. Of course. Sorry. Just looking at chat here. So scaling effectively, sustainably. I'll talk more about, like, the sustainability part of promoting things on your website. And really, the biggest, I guess, like, issue that marketers come to us is, like, making that offer. 1, super easy to redeem, whether it's a coupon code, or just, like, getting the details out about, like, a sweepstakes, or whatever the offer is, or sale. Like, those can be some pain points that we help address, and that allows you to scale without any worries of who's getting what offer, like, what's affecting the margins. That does take a little bit of planning right off the bat. Like, we're in the new year, great time because we have all of that historical data from the holiday, to know what offers, what messaging work best. And the idea with focusing on sustainable, like, coupon code redemption and, like, giving that out to people is to really make sure you're addressing, like, what that experience is that they need to be served. It really isn't all about like giving them the best offer in the world. A lot of times what we find in AB testing is like, we don't even have to give them the offer for them to convert sometimes, they just need more help with site navigation, which is as easy as like you having a pop up with maybe 3 max CTAs, and you're leading to an FAQ page. I think with beauty, it's, like, really positive to lean into education right now with so much going on. Like, you can get so much information, so if you're seen as more of that, like, authority in that space, like, that can go a long way. Or CTAs to download any kind of, like, blog content that you might have. And even then, like, that click through can lead to a product recommendation curated page for them. So all to say that you don't have to give an offer to everyone. This is another case where I would look at your top five traffic sources, right, and, like, paid, email, SMS, and really look to see what offer works best for each. Maybe that's as simple as you doing AB test for each channel, and it's, like, 10% versus what you think will help that. And that could be anything from free shipping to a cool free gift partnership that you have going on with another brand here. I have a case study for that too. I'll share share that later. Yeah. That's a great point, Ashay, and very well said. I think, I can add a little bit more context on the on the post purchase side. You mentioned kind of tailored offers, and that's a good segue for me to talk a little bit about returns and exchanges. So sustaining and scaling momentum for your brand really requires that infrastructure that prioritizes operational efficiency and customer loyalty at the same time. So it's not just about making, a great first impression. It's about ensuring every interaction afterwards, really enforces that trust that you've built with your customers. So one critical area is how you handle returns and exchanges. So, obviously, returns are inevitable, especially in the beauty space where personal preferences and product fit really play a huge role in decisions. Instead of seeing returns really as a sunken cost, you can treat them as an opportunity to build loyalty with your customers. Offering flexible exchanges, eco friendly returns, options, really tailored offers, and just a transparent, returns tracking shows your customer that you're really invested in their overall satisfaction and in the environment that you're creating, for them shopping. So typically brands using AfterShip have reported retention rates as high as 50%, with some recapturing 20% of their return value through exchanges alone. And that comes into those tailored offers I was just mentioning. So this isn't just about stealing. It's really about building a system where customers can keep coming back because they trust you to make things right even when the product might not necessarily be perfect for them in that moment. Yeah. I feel like returns are kinda, like, something that brands that use consumables or, like, beauty don't always think about d two c. Because you go in a store, like, you can kinda return, like, anything to Ulta and Costco and Target and kinda get away with it. In Nordstrom too, you could return anything to Nordstrom. So a really cool strategy because I've honestly seen a lot of more beauty brands and even consumables. Like, it just depends, like, again, what your messaging is and, like, how you take care of the customer offer exchanges or, like, use the platform to, like, just do the exchange evenly. So it's just really automated. So kind of a new interesting sector, but I feel you because, like, I I don't buy makeup online a lot. Just the color fit, I'll buy the samples. And I think that's probably the biggest reason why people would hesitate to buy from a brand if they don't know that they can swap something out really easily. So I love that highlight. Awesome. Alex, what are you thinking on this? Yeah. I think that's really good points there, Sarah. I think for us, what what we see is to scale effectively and sustainably. The focus needs to be on growing customers' lifetime value rather than constantly chasing new acquisitions. So, you know, what we found here is loyalty program's a real game changer. So redeeming members, for example, they'll purchase nearly 3 times more each year than nonmembers, so their financial impact is massive, especially for that sustainable long term growth. One of the most effective ways to drive this is through tiered loyalty programs. So this is what we do with a lot of our beauty, clients. A lot of our clients are in, you know, makeup and and then jewelry in that kind of, industry. By offering kinda different experiences and perks, as customers move up the tiers, you not only keep them engaged, but also incentivize others to aim for that top tier status. So especially if they can kinda see on the website to see, you know, if I can go through the website, spend these amount points, and get to the next tiers, it's incentivizing people to keep coming back. So here's how data, you know, becomes your best friend in a way. And so the behaviors of your top tier members show you what works, so what they value most, how they shop, what keeps them loyal. And then by analyzing this, you can shape strategies to move more customers into those higher tiers and deliver experiences that your most law fans want. And then what we found in the beauty, in the beauty space specifically, top tier perks can be incredibly impactful. So, for example, exclusive, you know, things like meet the founders webinar is really important, really valued by people who associate with those type of brands, like those offered by brands such as The Inkey List or or Rodeal. And what they do is create a personal connection, so it's really about the shift from customer to someone who is an of the brand, and that's kind of what we are focused on, especially with the sustainable growth of the business. Product focus groups as well where customers can contribute to future launches. They're another great way to keep your top team members engaged, make them feel like a valued part of the brand's journey, kind of moving them forward. So for us, it's all about, you know, building deeper relationships with your customers and using those insights to not only refine, but but scale your approach moving forward. I love those ideas. If a brand that I really loved reached out to me to be on a webinar or, like, meet the founders or have more insight, I definitely jump at the opportunity, especially because I feel like we're free advocates for stuff that we like already. And I've noticed too. And I know some beauty brands don't have a higher price point, but there are beauty brands that, like, do where, like, shampoo and conditioners for hair loss are, like, $80. And I will say that I love the loyalty program because you're spending your money on something that you thought was valuable. There's a lot of other options that you can go get at Walmart and Target that it might be a little bit more less costly, but I personally love the loyalty program. So I like that you took it another direction of also providing, like, exclusive opportunities. It kinda makes people feel like influencers in a way, because all these influencers are good to go to these like, fun events and, like, brands give them gifts. So it's kind of like unlocking that for people that are just advocates for the brand in their life and their day to day. A 100%. Yeah. It's all about making people, feel part of a community. So that's what we try to build with the brands that come to us. It's about not making feel like customers, but really making them info like, feel involved in a brand and forward as as part of a community. So, yeah, I I think that's something we're achieving with the brands. Awesome. I love that. Lauren, what are your thought what are your thoughts on this? Yeah. I feel like all of these are such great answers. And I think at the core of this is really that, like, data collection element because we can't do any of this without data analysis on what's working well and what's not. So my recommendation and and kind of my thoughts here are building a robust data ecosystem around your brand. So invest in something scalable from streamlined supply chains to your point earlier, Fran, to omnichannel sales platforms that can grow with demand. Tinuity really believes in this, like, to our core, to the point where we created a proprietary suite of products through our Bliss Point app that are designed to do all of this and more. It's really, really exciting. We can address the most complex challenges facing marketers today all the way from like planning and forecasting to longer term measurement like incrementality and rapid Really understanding and testing what's working well in our media, how we grow lifetime value, all of those little nuggets of information that we all ask about our own companies, brands and our clients, all condensed into one place, one infrastructure. So this information ultimately will arm us with what we need to create a strong testing plan or a learning agenda for the year, and that will in turn drive that effective data driven decision making. I totally agree. If the services you're using don't offer for them to do an analysis for you manually. But first, they should do that. But if they don't have, like, a tech solution where this is all automatic, we have this in the ecosystem. Like, there's a lot of partners that this is why they they are striving above other options is because everything's really at your fingertips in the ease of use. And then you talk with the partner about and your service provider with more specific strategic initiatives. And this kinda goes into, like, fulfillment. Like, have a fulfillment partner that can give you the data. If you're gonna reevaluate fulfillment for this year, which right now is actually the best time, just to make sure you can keep up with demand, like, make sure they do an analysis for you off the bat, or their technology can do it as you grow with them. I think that's a standard now, so you can be, like Lauren said, more effective in your decision making. And find a fulfillment partner to to do all these things, because I think everyone's talking about growth, retention, upselling, cross selling. You have to have a a fulfillment structure that keeps up with it. And I think that's what we've seen in years past where brands are working with somebody else, whether it's a small mom and pop shop or someone that's global, like, they can't keep up with demand or they can't help them service the channel that they wanna go into, whether it's omnichannel or global. And, again, like, we don't service every re like, every retailer online. There's definitely restrictions with how people like to receive the data and the labels if you're shipping stuff in stores. It it gets very complicated, but, like, at least find someone who set up to match your growth. And I think look at, like, their other customer case studies or ask them about it. Like, how have brands been able to scale with you? Because if you don't have the infrastructure, like, it really falls on us. Like, everyone's initiatives here really fall on us to deliver fast, efficient shipping and keep people really up to date. And if we can't do that, brands struggle. We had a brand come to us, like, right before Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and their 3PLs, like, we cannot keep up with your demand, and they had to switch really fast. And so just kind of preparing yourself, and I know brands do this as years progress. It just putting an RFP together and, like, looking at, like, what do I wanna focus on and, like, who's gonna help me get there and who has the ecosystem to support? Because I know TikTok right now, there's a lot of controversy. Just went back up online, but that is something that, like, Sarah's team and my team really, like, drove into because people didn't know what to do there. And they needed someone to kinda be a resource and tell them this is what has worked. And then also show a case study of how do we help brands scale in this area. So just look at your fulfillment structure. I know some people have their own warehouse where they do fulfillment. There's still options for you to optimize that with a good warehouse management system like ShipBob's, but then also people outsourcing. It's like there's so many different options, but you really just have to look at, like, who's gonna help me get to my goals of growth. And then can they support these areas? Because there's so many different ways to scale and grow. Like, some people might not focus on global or going omnichannel, and they're just like, I wanna service my US customers amazingly. And there's strategies for that, and it really every 3PL is gonna be really different, but just find someone who has the capacity, the experience, and is also looking at ways to optimize fulfillment for the greater good of their network, not just for one brand. So that's kind of vague, but really just focus on that. And if you have questions, like ping us after this, I'm I know we're gonna send a recording, but really just something to think about as we're in q 1 and then going into q 2 because we all know that as q 3 starts, no one wants to switch fulfillment before Black Friday, Cyber Monday. So just have those conversations now. But I feel like everyone gave me some really great tips. Again, talking about data, how can beauty brand owners and operators leverage data to make smart decisions? This might be repetitive, but let's start with Sarah. Yeah. Thanks, Fran. I think, Lauren said this really well, but in an industry driven by trends and preferences, data really is that compass that helps us navigate customer needs and at the same time, operational hurdles. But that raw data sometimes isn't always enough. It's about, like, what comes next and how do you turn that information into actionable insights. And one of the things that I wanted to chat a little bit about is how AfterShip enables brands to use shipment level and returns data to really uncover patterns. So for example, if a specific SKU has potentially a higher return rate, it could signal maybe a packaging issue or quality issue with that product. So and actually, similarly, if tracking carry performance can also highlight delays or inefficiencies in your supply chain, which will really allow you to optimize your shipping strategy. So the impact of a lot of these insights are super tangible. And like I said, brands using AfterShip have really focused on reducing operational costs, and cutting down on reshipments and managing those. Where is my order tickets? I know that's a headache for a ton of brands today, but we just wanna help you manage that effectively, get ahead of it, and address any pain points before they escalate. And that all comes from the actionable data that we have to provide. And the tool the data really is a tool for brands to make decisions that not only will save costs for them, but also improves the customer experience, which are both obviously essential components and really thriving in the beauty space today. I love this. I feel like this aligns so much with ShipBob's technology and the analytics we have. I'm glad I didn't, like, get too much in the detail in the last question, but I feel like what you're you're talking about, like, we're doing in fulfillment ways of, like, really keeping, like, transparent about, hey. These orders are on hold because of x, y, and z. Hey. Actually, it took this long to fulfill the order instead of the target time, even cost. And I feel like that's a really important thing to look at if you're trying to drive cost down as well as be more efficient. So, like, it along with aftershifts, like, looking at specific scenarios, especially with tracking, like, you should find a fulfillment partner that has a WMS that is very advanced to give you this data in real time. So, like, you don't have to keep reaching out to your account manager support about this, and, like, you can make decisions and also, like, act on them. But there should be a way as well for you to prepare for expansion. I think this is where we really shine and, like, where other 3PLs as well that had technologies that do this really shine is, like, giving the information for scale without having to do it manually. And you can have your 3 p l do it manually. Like, run an analysis on my last 3 months of order data and let me know, like, where I should place inventory. ShipBob does this automatically once you start shipping. And I think that with that data, you can become more specific and even get down to, like, the skew as what like, how much of the skew and where it should be placed and kinda toggle around. It's kinda fun because you can be, like, 3 locations, 5. Okay. It's recommending these and kinda look at how it differentiates, like, your mix depending on what you choose. So again, just use data to be more strategic and just make these changes that, like, maybe you need a consultant to come in and look at the data. Like, your 3PL should be able to pull that data for you or have it on demand. And I think as you I think brands scale really fast as well, like, faster than they would think. I know Lauren said the next decision for TikTok is in 75 days, have other strategies. I feel like a lot of people have really scaled from TikTok, Instagram as well, and just like other marketplaces, as well as like selling in store. But all these marketplaces, like, are coming from your 3PL. It's just like direct to consumer fulfillment. So you might be able you might have to send inventory to a new facility or move inventory to, like, help reduce transit time, make sure customers are still experiencing, like, a good experience with transit time, and make those decisions fast. And, like, if you have the data to back that up, it makes it really easier to do that, especially if your fulfillment partner can do that and has multiple locations. So I think with data, it's also, like, looking at the opportunity with fulfillment to use that data. Like, if you have data, you're like, oh, it'd be great that if I could have a facility in the northeast, but, like, there's no opportunity. Like, that doesn't really help you, but also gives you information to know, like, maybe I should go add another 3PL partner, find someone that can manage all these regions. So I love that, Sarah. I feel like that really aligns with, like, what we do in the data we provide. Also gonna kick it over to Lauren because I feel like you got a thought. I saw your mute come off. That's why I'm, like, anticipating. Yes. Yes. Good eye. To your point and to Sarah's as well, like, the data really allows us to pivot on a dime depending on what's going on in the world with our business, what have you. And in order to be able to do that, the data has to be organized and hygienic in a way that will enable us to use it effectively. Right? So what we want to do when we're employing those real time insights, we're taking those. We're optimizing, at least on the Tenuity side of the house, we're optimizing your campaigns with those. So we're testing creative, messaging, and new platforms to iterate based on performance as well as like the the data we're collecting more long term to my point around, like those longer term measurement opportunities like incrementality and things like that. So the data strategy is really, really important. And at the at the foundation of all of that is that hygienic data. The more hygienic and organized it is, the more precise their decisions can be and and ultimately, like, the more successful you will be in the long term. And then taking it even further, that's building your bridge to your audience and making that even stronger as well. Because the decisions that you're making from the data are going to, like, truly impact how you are seen with your audience. So if the decision decisions that you're making are if they're not being driven by data that you're collecting from your audience, then essentially the things you're putting into place from a strategy perspective won't be relevant anymore. Awesome. Alex, any thoughts on that or the the the question and everyone else's thoughts too? Yeah. No. I I think some really good points raised that. I I think data is is so important to kind of what we're doing with our clients. So, for example, we all know how hard it is to collect data these days from the standpoint. So what we're starting to do is, you know, questions around, you know, questions when you start. So, you know, what kind of makeup do you like? What do you like to buy with your friends? What do you like to do in groups to make sure we can kind of personalize that data? But when we actually have the data, it's a good question, like, how do you utilize it properly? So what we would you know, how we would help our clients is use it to understand what kind of rewards and benefits would benefit the customer the best. So it's not just a, like, a general approach, or it's a it's a targeted approach. Right? So that's one of the things that we work on. And, also, I think you can use the data to design a more effective loyalty program. So for example, you know, AB test different type rewards, bonus points promotions, different shipping options, you know, test everything, and then use the data to build the most impactful program you have. So it's all about, you know, the the same approach that we have to everything. Right? It's it's not a scattergun approach. It's about looking at the data, utilizing it, you know, kind of going off back what everyone else has said, looking at it, and then making sure it's a personalized approach, and then we're targeting, you know, the right people, the right time, the right content. So, yeah, I I think that's the best way to utilize data. Love that. SJ, what do you think? I I think with data, like, we're at a unique place right now with this specific webinar where we have all of this, like, influx of historical and a lot of data points because of all the traffic that we got to our website. So, again, we're kind of, like, back into just the website mode here. And I'll kinda get just share some examples from just some general stats we got for the beauty industry from this holiday and how we're kinda directing on the client side. Like, okay. What does this kind of direct us to as far as the strategy on-site? Is it to increase AOV? Do we actually need to focus on optimizing the lead capture better to lower unsubscribe rates? So we kinda get into those conversations once we look at these kinds of numb numbers. But one, it's, like, leverage really relevant, rich, historical data. And I think right now, like, holiday is a perfect time. You could also go look at last year around this time and combining that information, and just get a really good analysis going. When we look at the beauty industry, we had a almost 10% conversion rate with the holiday season. So you can think from Black Friday, Cyber Monday, that whole week. And then we had one of the lower AOV averages when we looked at all of the industries together. A 123 with some cents on there. So just comparing that number across the industry, like, of course, there's many factors in there. But that really does resonate with those that are interested in product discovery and introducing new product categories into their catalog as well. What was awesome to see with the beauty industry is that they were one of the leaders with engaged conversion rate, which was at 20%. When we compare that to the 10% conversion rate, you can see that if you have something implemented where someone is able to actually click through a CTA, go through a quiz of some sort, engage with a product recommendation carousel, that's all that builds up to contribute to that engaged conversion rate, which is twice as much as if they don't get any engagement out of you. So this is to say, kinda track your your website and understand how many engagements are typically occurring before someone is converting or abandoning your site. If your focus is more about AOV, right, we talked about it before, product recommendations across the site. If it is more about just keeping people on the website longer, then we get more insight navigation. So how we wanna make smarter decisions, it's kinda like the type of data you're looking at. And then from there, it's just knowing your your key goals, of course, as, like, a marketing department, but then just in the tools that you're managing. Kinda like Lauren saying, like, the Tanuity is helping you implement tools, finding the right mix of a tech stack. So getting all the data out of that, and I think also being really mindful. Like, to make smarter decisions, it's knowing what data is available. Like Francesca was telling us earlier, like, asking the question, even if it feels like a big general question. Like, asking that can help narrow down, and you just naturally asking the right question. Like, I I truly believe that. Like, even if you're not sure, you can get somewhere just by kinda digging in a little bit more and having that conversation. But, like, all of this data, like, for our point of view on-site, we really want to address your omnichannel approach. So if that's TikTok, if email is your main thing, if SMS is something new that you're implementing, like, those are the channels that deserve your attention and deserve some sort of pop up or message to really greet someone and set the stage for the continuous engagement to happen. Love that. So have data, be specific, and use the data wisely is, like, the general consensus of this. Yeah. Yeah. And so I know we're coming up on time. We got 2 more questions, and you should be, like, kinda more straightforward. So as beauty brands grow, what are common challenges they face, and what are tips to overcome them? And so I'll start off just from a fulfillment point of view. I'm just trying to think of beauty brands specifically. There's a lot of breakage and damages or stuff like squirting out or exploding. That's, like, probably the biggest thing. Like, the candles also break really easily. So as you scale, it's just gonna increase the opportunity for orders to go wrong. Like, that that's just the numbers of logistics. Like, not everything is a 100%. When you have handed off to the carrier, stuff happens. And I think that if you can kinda get ahead of it, like, you don't need to change your pack, like, your your products, like, actual, like, packaging. But, like, utilize your network and, like, your partners to if you're having issues, like, utilize these partners, but, like, we have packaging partners that test for this. I feel like this is just very beauty specific. Tippy type probably doesn't have this because, like, their stuff is silicone. But if you're having, like, where orders are damaged or different things like that, like, just lean into partners that can introduce you to someone that can do testing. I think when people have breakables and stuff that, like, squirts out, like, that's probably the biggest thing and, like, the last thing you really want because everything else went right and just they got the product and it was damaged. And sometimes they'll just want a refund, especially if, like, it wasn't within a time that they needed. So that's just my tip is, like, utilizing packaging and partners that will attest that. There's a lot of every time an order is picked. And just as you scale, like, try to reduce that and then take that into the next thing. Like, if you're going to have orders that are being or products being sent to a store, like, that will influence, like, how that stuff is packaged and if you use different packaging or containers for it. So that's kind of beauty focused and, like, really fulfillment focused and really simple, but I feel like that's a really easy fix. And if anyone's experienced in that, I have a partner that can test and do it for you, and get things ramped up and make it customized too. So we'll kick it over to Lauren. What are your thoughts on this? As brands continue to grow, what are common challenges they face? I mean, I think the most common challenge is still going to be, like, how competitive the market is. It's obviously really important to keep tabs on what our competition is doing. Understanding what they're doing and why and where is really, really helpful, but we're not always going to have the resources to go toe to toe with them. So this goes back to my first point about brand authenticity. Know who you are, own it, and in the face of competition, your audience will still stick with you and recognize that you're being true to yourself and to your brand. And that'll come through in the data. Right? So with competition and with that competitive nature comes relevance as well. I think that also goes hand in hand with brand authenticity. So what worked last year for you as a brand might not work for you right now, and that could be due to economic changes, inflation, supply chain issues, what what have you. But stay agile by keeping your finger on the pulse of what this the consumer and industry trends are and don't be afraid to pivot when necessary. Love that. Alex, what are your thoughts on challenges and tips? Yeah. Some really good points there, Lauren. I I think one of the biggest challenges that beauty brands face as they grow is is customer retention. Right? So often, someone will make their first purchase directly from the brand, but then the second time, they'll go to a big retailer like a Target, Walmart, or like a another wholesale stockist. So while that visibility is great, it means you're losing the chance to build that direct relationship with that customer, and that's where we think loyalty programs can kinda help overcome, that hurdle. So a stat that I speak about all the time with customers who are looking to overcome this challenge and build retention is that a customer who joins a loyalty program, they're 6 times more likely to make a second purchase directly with you. So that's a game changer because it keeps them in your ecosystem instead of shifting them into the loyalty to a larger retailer. Another key factor I think here is the rising cost of, customer acquisition. That's a big hurdle to go over as well. So in today's competitive and and, you know, crowded marketplace, ad spend is increasingly expensive and often unsustainable, especially when customers only purchase once. So to scale effectively, brands need to shift their focus from acquisition to retention, keeping the customers who have already engaged with their brand. Loyalty programs obviously play a big role in this, but but so do referral programs. Right? So which turns your existing customers into advocates who can bring in new ones organically helping offset these rising ad costs. So for us, the solution is twofold. So first, make it easy and exciting for customers to join your loyalty program with compelling insights like, points for the first purchase or perks, but then keep them engaged by emphasizing the value of your brand. I think, like, Lauren said, right, really show off the value of your brand to keep emphasizing this by sticking with your brand. So whether it's earning rewards or getting access to VIP, perks or feeling part of the special community we spoke about, by focusing on retention and advocacy, you're not just boosting repeat purchase. You're building up a sustainable growth strategy that keeps your customers loyal and leverages their enthusiasm to to grow the brand. We're also gonna go over anyone, so it's still recorded, but we're gonna still go through the rest of this question and the next question. But, Alex, I agree. And I feel like retention when people are shopping omnichannel is a hard thing, but I feel like even in combination with fulfillment like, you you outlined some great tips with loyalty and, like, having loyalty programs as well as referral. I feel like there's so many things we can do as a fulfillment partner if, like, they're ordering on alta.com. Like, we can make the packaging really customized and, like, drive them back to your loyalty program or to the website. Even if it's in store. Like, I don't know if there's any, like, restrictions on what you can have on your packaging in store. Like, put a QR code on there and, like, drive them back to something. So really great thoughts. Anyone else have anything to add on that? Or also, SJ, what do you think? Yeah. I can add, when it comes to challenges, what we hear a lot about you know, we have a lot of data from pop ups and just from website behavior. So it we get into segment building, and how that's just one, a struggle to kinda create your personas when you're scaling, because you probably do have this influx in data. And maybe you've been working off of maybe, like, outdated personas, which to Lauren's point, can change so quickly just based on how the market is right now. So challenges really around segment building, or just around creating or using certain conditions to get the attention of certain segments. Right? So, for example, knowing if they're a cart abandoner, that's pretty easy. They have something in cart, and they're doing something with their mouse to show us that they're abandoning. But, it gets a little more nuanced there when you actually sit down with the brand and ask what their goals are. It's like, oh, it's a little more it's a little deeper than that. So the tip for analyzing segments and building someone that you can retarget on website, I would say starts with building either 2 to 5 segments. You know, maybe that's depending on how big your team is, or how much data you actually have. And then understanding we'll just use AOV as a goal at this point. Understanding, let's say, their AOV, and then in addition, which touch points are not being addressed. So as a combination, maybe you have someone that has visited your site 7 times, you know, in the last x days, and they've added something to cart before. Like, that could be a website persona, website segment that you target and show really relevant product recommendations to. So that touch point that I'm talking about can be the welcome approach that you have, and what you're greeting them with when they get to your website. What you give them or what you present to them when they're just exiting without anything in their cart, we call that browse abandonment. The classic cart abandonment, I think that's crucial to set up on a website as a segment, because you probably, or you should, have a cart abandonment segment or message going out in your email or your SMS channel that's, like, automatically triggered. So what pop up messaging on your website does is either supports that, or it's kind of the lead in to get that attention there. So a lot what you can do with segments. I think one of the bigger ones we saw from the holiday that is a great one to start off with right now is that return visitor of the people that did not convert. That alone can already tell you, like to Alex's point, who maybe is a little bit more warmed up, where we can start to get into that advocate mode, and who you're still really selling yourself to, but hopefully selling in, like, a really educational authority like way. Love that. Sarah, I feel like you're gonna have a very different take on this. I think it's a little different, but I think it's also very similar to what Alex shared. So I I think I'll double down on that and just the importance of customer retention. And the tip here that I'll share is just automation and proactive communication. So proactively updating customers about the status of their shipments, automating returns workflows, and really providing an end to end seamless tracking experience can drastically reduce the operational strain. And then at the same time, I talked about it before, but really improve customer satisfaction. And, again, the goal is not only to just lighten the the workload on your team, but ensure that you're really, getting those high customer satisfaction scores. Your customers really feel cared for. They feel top of mind. They're not an afterthought, and you're really focusing on the post purchase experience would often lead yourself really nicely into customer loyalty and customer retention. Yeah. I guess, I mean, growth doesn't really have to always mean growing pains. If you really invest in a scalable solution that really prioritizes efficiency and customer experience, it's a win win for your teams, and it's a win win for your customers. And with that, I feel like we've talked a lot of about tips, so I'm not gonna include any because I feel like I've talked to Brinziers off about finding a fulfillment partner that could scale. But last question for everyone, what is one piece of advice you would give a beauty brand owner and operators navigating 2025? Who wants to start out? Yeah. I can start. So advice to start off 2025 and navigating it is leaning into testing, which I know Lauren and I have mentioned here. And there's a lot of different things you can test. I would like, we're all about converting that same session. So what we're trying to do is provide the best copy, the best imagery, whatever that combination is, to get the click through to the next pop up in the flow that they should be seeing. So AB testing, you can take that as detailed and segmented as you want. Or if we're just trying to get baseline data, just 2 types of variations in a control group can take you a long way just to even make that first decision. Like, the AB test doesn't have to feel like that biggest decision. It's just the act of getting the data that you need to be more educated. Okay. We'll kick it over to Sarah. Oh, Lauren, do you have something to say on that? I was just gonna kinda double down on what SJ said. I think testing is so so important. And at the end of the day, like, we are all human, so the data can lead us in a lot of different directions and lead us in those directions effectively. But again, like, we're not made of data. We are human people. We crave connection. We crave authenticity. So I think we should try to enhance and not replace the emotional side of beauty with just like testing upon testing upon testing. But that said, I think going back to my point around AI, we can lean into AI as a tool to help improve testing. We don't have the hands to actually implement that. AI can really be the lever that we pull to get that testing in place and have more testing, backlog that we can implement soon thereafter. Yeah. I I definitely echo everything that, Shay and and Lauren have shared. I think I'll take my advice in in a bit of a different direction focusing on returns that talks about it a bunch today. But I think my biggest tip here and advice would be really for beauty brands to implement green returns as a part of your return strategy. For lower cost items, maybe offering store credit instead of requiring return can really reduce waste and also operational costs while at the same time providing that value to the customer. For returns, specifically and transparency in tracking and eco conscious practices like encouraging exchanges over refunds can really create just goodwill, customer loyalty, and retention, all things that we have been talking about today. And a lot of the brands that are using after ship are really leveraging these strategies to retain more customers and reduce costs. I think in 2025, it's not just about eliminating returns because that's never gonna happen, but it's about managing them in a way that really supports your brand's growth, values, and, you're really ensuring solid customer relationships as you head into, the rest of the year. I've definitely seen those return options, especially from brands that have a sustainable point of view and, like, that's kind of their mission. And I've actually been, like, very impressed with them being like, no. You just keep the shoes and, like, we'll partial refund. Especially when you think about, like, logistics wise, sometimes the landed cost of the product doesn't make sense to return. So I like that you're offering other solutions that are driving, like, a mission and something I think a lot of consumers are thinking about, especially the Gen Zers of the world. They're very more, like, focused on ethical labor, sustainability, and clean beauty, like, what's in my product. So I like that you're offering something that can also play into maybe messaging that a brand is trying to drive. And I know sustainability is such a hard thing because you have a lot of people call, like, things greenwashing and, like, to be a 100% is sustainable. Like, no business right now is really doing that because we don't really have the framework. But I like that you're giving someone the access to address that because I think that that is a huge thing that's come up in the last couple years, especially with the different other tech solutions that have, like, resale opportunities and, like, carbon offsetting, which you guys also have. So love that love that idea. Thanks, Fran. And, Alex, we're gonna end with you, your last tip. Yeah. So I think, great tips by everyone. I think for us, it's clear. I think focus on retention. So it's one of the smartest strategies for sustainable growth. So research is showing that increasing customer retention by just 5% is gonna boost profits by anywhere from 25% to 95%. So, you know, that's a massive impact. Right? Plus on average, 5 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than to retain the existing one. So I think with rising costs for both consumers and businesses, being laser focused on ad and campaign spend is critical, and retaining loyal customers is is the way forward. So, yeah, I think that's my number one tip. I like that you said it also benefits the customer because I think I have analysis paralysis sometimes. I mean, I'm like, I'm gonna go buy something new and there's a lot of options or if something's out of stock or maybe I'm looking for something different, like, you just it's just too much. Sometimes you're like, I'm just not even gonna think about this and, like, purchases, you kinda put it to the side. So I love that thought process because it's really easy to keep buying from brands, and I know it's kind of like an easy button for, like, sales for me. And I don't really have to think about it. And, like, I most likely get on a subscription if it's a subscription opportunity without even hesitating just because I know I'll consume the product. So I love that benefits both the customer and and the brand. And I think that we don't have any questions in the chat. If you guys have questions, like, we'll follow-up via email with the recording, and you can reply back. It's gonna come from me or someone from ShipBob, and I'm sure the team as well on here is gonna reach out to everyone as well. But just ping us back and we can get you guys connected with even partners outside of this ecosystem of who is here right now, for your growth in 2025. So thank you everyone for your time, and thank you to all our partners that came on and gave some really actionable tips, and hope to see you guys soon at the next webinar we have. It's not beauty focus. I can't I think it's like health and wellness focus, but if you wanna hop in, kind of a similar theme, but we'll see you guys then or at our summit. So thanks, everyone. Thanks everyone. Bye. Thanks everyone. Thanks you guys. Bye.