How beauty brands can use next-gen technology, including payments and e-commerce solutions and software, to increase sales was put under the spotlight in a panel discussion hosted by BlueSnap, the global payments platform; BigCommerce, the e-commerce platform; and SalesFire, the software company that helps retailers convert visitors to customers.
The panel, which was moderated by Michaela Weber, VP global business development at BigCommerce, featured Nikhita Hyett, European managing director at BlueSnap; Tim Mawson, head of partnerships at SalesFire; and Dan Forrest, UK e-com lead at TikTok Shop.
Hyett emphasised how payments were key to getting conversion and sales and made the important distinction between conversion rates and acceptance/authorisation rates.
Conversion rate refers to people who plan a visit to a website and have the intention to buy, Hyett said. Acceptance/authorisation rates refer to the percentage of transactions that are accepted versus declined.
The latter is a crucial metric, said Hyett, who revealed BlueSnap survey data showed 40% of businesses did not know their authorisation rates.
Next-gen payments technology needed to address three key friction points, Hyett told delegates.
First, retailers need to know where their shoppers are located so they can match the payment solution with the shopper location.
“It’s critical to have the right currency since offering the shopper the local currency gives an uplift of 12%,” Hyett said. Similarly, retailers must offer the right payment methods such as Apple Pay but also remember local preferences. Seventy per cent of Dutch transactions are via the e-commerce payment system Ideal, for example; while Germans still prefer PayPal, she explained.
Secondly, retailers must provide intelligent payment routing, which means routing the transaction in a way that is most likely to be approved. Thirdly, tech needs to understand recurring shoppers and ensure their card information is stored securely and that their payment information is kept up-to-date.
Mawson agreed e-commerce shoppers have many expectations with regards to online shopping but suggested a lack of personalisation was a major frustration for shoppers and especially in the gifting market.
Mawson suggested retailers were confused by gifting shoppers and would assume a male gifting buyer visiting a beauty website is a female customer, for example. This lack of personalisation would encourage shoppers to go somewhere else, Mawson suggested.
“There’s a lot to be said for understanding the customer and buying journey at particular times of the year,” Mawson said.
Mawson said personalisation can have a positive impact on the average order value. Prompts and recommendations can encourage shoppers to add other items to their baskets or buy bundle deals, for instance. Retailers also have an opportunity to increase the customer’s lifetime value through loyalty programs, he added.
“Beauty is one of the sectors where they have aced this with community building,” Mawson said, citing Charlotte Tilbury’s loyalty program and Beauty Pie’s subscription scheme as strong examples in this field.
Mawson advised retailers to benchmark their performance against someone on their own level. A new athleisure wear brand shouldn’t compare themselves with Gymshark, for example.
“Don’t pick a fight with the biggest guy in the yard,” he said. And, he recommended businesses benchmark on their average order value and conversion rate versus revenue. The user journey can adapt and change over time, which will ultimately impact revenue, he said.
Forrest, who leads the beauty category at TikTok Shop, said beauty brands were well suited to e-commerce commerce, where beauty has 40%+ penetration, and social media due to the trend-led nature of the market.
Unlike traditional retail, e-commerce has elastic shelves and sites don’t have to wait for a range review to introduce new lines.
Forrest revealed TikTok has received 70 billion views on the beauty TiKTok hashtag and highlighted the ability for users to create advocacy for brands, hold conversations and build communities.
TikTok attacts 1.5 billion monthly active users globally so serving content that’s relevant is vital, Forrest advised.
He highlighted tools retailers can use to improve personalisation including data and analytics, which are free to use in the seller centre on TikTok Shop.
Forrest suggested more nuanced information was also available such as customer conversations about products etc.
“All that information is out there to learn about your brand and how are consumers are responding,” he said. “You can see what people are saying about your product.”
Forrest said brands did not need big in-house teams to sell on social media. “We say ‘don’t make ads, make TikToks’,” he smiled.
The authenticity of posts is also vital, he added. “The polished ones feel less authentic. The nicest thing about TikTok Shop is it’s like getting a recommendation from your mate versus an advert,” Forrest opined.
Asked to pick out beauty brand successes on TikTok Shop, Forrest served up Made by Mitchell and its new Ski Collection and a new L’oreal chilli-infused lip balm.
