How digital technology is enhancing diversity, inclusivity and sustainability

06 Jul 2021 --- Beauty brands are striving to utilize the capabilities and ongoing advancements of beauty technology to create diverse, inclusive and sustainable products and campaigns. BPC Insights talks with Shauneez Rigney, social media and content manager at Skin Match Technology to explore how the industry can achieve this with digital strategies and solutions.

Beauty technology is changing how consumers interact with beauty and personal care (BPC) products, services and technologies. The biggest shift it is creating is through its ability to provide personalization. Consumers want to find products that are best suited for their beauty needs. 

By utilizing artificial intelligence (AI)-like shade finders, INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) explainers, and skin care routine finders, consumers can interact on a more personal level with their brands of choice. 

During this exchange and engagement, consumers care deeply about understanding why they have been recommended a product. As a result, beauty shoppers want to ensure they have access to sufficient information and complete transparency in order to trust the recommendation given.

Much more to do to reach all consumers

Click to EnlargeSkin Match Technology research finds there is still much to do for diversity, inclusion and sustainability. Source: Skin Match Technology.In Skin Match Technology’s recent survey to find out more about the role of beauty technology in revolutionizing beauty retail today and for the future, one of its main findings was that there is still so much more to do to achieve diversity, inclusion, and sustainability in the industry.

“We acquired these results from a survey that we designed based on parts of the beauty industry that we as Skin Match Technology stand for, like diversity, clean beauty, and transparency,” explains Rigney. “So because we want to better our digital solutions for brands, we always make sure that we keep up with the latest developments regarding these topics,” adds Rigney.

Beauty technology to capture consumers’ needs

Beauty technology has the potential to play a supportive role in attaining diversity, inclusion, and sustainability in the BPC industry. 

Skin Match Technology shares its key recommendations on how beauty tech can spur change and help the industry move closer to reaching diversity and inclusivity:

• The implementation of a wide range of 112 different shades to promote diversity. 
• The beauty technology name also states it does not discriminate gender when recommending products as 80% of its product portfolio is unisex. 
• The solutions provider hopes it will become perfectly normal for men to buy a concealer or for nonbinary people to find a well-rounded beauty routine without having to identify as female or male. 

Click to EnlargeGood quality diverse products and a diverse beauty brand team go hand in hand.In the Innova Beauty and Personal Care Survey 2020, globally, on average, 33% of consumers agree and 13% strongly agree with the statement “it is important to me that the brand I buy embraces all inclusivity,” appealing to all ethnicities, body and skin types, ages, and gender expressions.

Highlighting the importance of these actions, Rigney emphasizes that the focus should be on: “Recognizing these seemingly subtle changes in how we as beauty tech providers can influence the future of how people buy cosmetics.”

By gathering and analyzing extensive consumer data, Skin Match Technology can identify niches of opportunities where the market is not addressing the consumer correctly. “May it be in shade selection, packaging design, price, communication, or color trends,” says Rigney. 

When it comes to sustainability, globally, on average, 43% of consumers agree or strongly agree that sustainability claims on a BPC product are generally trustworthy, according to the Innova Beauty and Personal Care Survey 2020. Furthermore, 41% of the same consumers agree or strongly agree that they can judge the overall sustainability of a product. 

For BPC consumers today, there is a whole plethora of product characteristics that are perceived to equate to sustainability among consumers, including cruelty free/not tested on animals, biodegradability, natural and/or organic ingredients, ingredients with limited impact on the environment and sustainable packaging. 

Overcoming today’s barriers

For brands to achieve diversity and inclusion, BPC brands must first be aware and dispel the greatest hurdles. “We believe it is the biggest challenge for most to first look inward in order to supply good quality diverse products,” says Rigney. “They must work to create a diverse team within their brand, this means POC and LGBTQ representation in their advertising and marketing teams, CEO, and founders,” adds Rigney. 

Building confidence and trust is vital between the consumer and cosmetics brand. “The challenge is being authentic and consumers are able to tell very well if a brand is not authentically diverse,” explains Rigney.

In terms of sustainability, Rigney sees this as “even harder,” as the industry would have to start with transparency in the first part of the supply chain, the sourcing of ingredients to achieve this fully. 

By Natasha Spencer-Jolliffe, BPC Insights Senior Reporter