What's next for digitized skin care beauty in 2021?

21 Apr 2021 --- With the physical beauty environment on hold, brands are engaging in their online efforts to tap into skin care consumers’ needs. Enter a seamless omnichannel approach, known as phygital.

With the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continuing into 2021 from 2020, Maria Semykoz, co-founder, What’s In My Jar (WIMJ) shares an area of beauty that is set to have a lot of attention: “The innovation focus will be on skin care.” 

Online versus offline

In most key markets around the world, the majority of consumers have not been to a physical skin care store for over a year. Although lockdowns are starting to ease and brick-and-mortar beauty outlets are opening up, Semykoz anticipates: “We will see brands accelerating their experiments with digital experiences.” 

With shopping assistants and advisory solutions expected to transfer from physical to digital spheres, the omnichannel approach is a priority for brands eager to capture consumers who increasingly want a seamless and consistent beauty experience.

When asked, 53% of beauty and personal care (BPC) consumers generally buy products in-store, while 22% shop online, the Innova Beauty and Personal Care Survey 2020 reveals. The pandemic, however, has changed the course of our shopping and consumption habits. Interestingly 25% of the surveyed consumers shop in both or have no preference, identifying the opportunity for phygital stances to take hold. 

Online still lags considerably as an option for consumers when buying facial skin care products. Only 17% of consumers bought facial skin care items online, from a brand’s website, 9% of those surveyed purchased products from specialist online beauty retailers and 4% bought online, via social media. Supermarkets and grocery stores, along with pharmacies and chemists, reigned supreme, with 27% of consumers each agreeing they typically buy their facial skin care products from these physical stores. 

Click to EnlargeThe demise of face-scanning apps?

Interestingly, there is one area of beauty that WIMJ’s Semykoz expects will slow in pace: “I think we will see fewer face scanner apps.” 

Sharing insights on why the popular virtual mirror-effect is set to lose traction, Semykoz continues: “The industry has accumulated enough data  to show they do not bring enough value to consumers to generate lasting habits and brand engagement.”

With the popularity of image recognition technology somewhat of a damp squib then in 2021, brands’ efforts to acquire and retain consumers will see the focus shift from the idea of “‘benchmarking’ consumers' faces,” Semykoz says. Instead, skin care brands will utilize in-depth insights to provide solutions reflective of their actual routines and habits. 

Innovations in the skin care advisory space are set to grow, with online recommendations gaining prominence, enabling consumers to make beauty decisions that cater to their specific skin care needs. 

As brands strive to provide what was previously offered offline through online channels, customized advice and solution-based content deliver information on specific products, for specific concerns, needs and preferences. Products targeting specific issues such as acne, hyperpigmentation, dry, oily, combination, sensitive and dehydrated skin, for example, are appearing online by brands eager to offer a customizable and targeted service online. 

In 2021, we are likely to see more brands aim to integrate their physical and digital presences—to tap into the phygital trend. Indeed, the name blend refers to creating an omnichannel approach that brings the physical and digital spaces together into one extended and experiential shopping trip.

Achieving phygital

So what does it take to achieve a phygital presence? 

Many beauty brands’ immediate go-to focus will be on their digital activities. Making sure their website content, design, product portfolio and brand identity reflect their offline activities with their existing, target consumer base is key. Brainstorming and implementing advice-based digital options such as quizzes, artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots and recommendations will feature as brands strive to offer a solutions-based approach online. 

Equally, brands need to look at the physical experiences customers have, and integrate these with digital routes for a full omnichannel approach. Commenting on the process and what this involves, Semykoz highlights it is creating “close links between the digital and supply chain within skin care companies.”

Getting creative online: offering true personalization

“Skin care futurists have been focused for a while on personalized skin care formulations, but we are still too early for this trend to be relevant commercially just yet.” The reasons for this are twofold, Semykoz adds: “Due to both the limitations of actual technology — there is not that much meaningful personalization, as opposed to customization — as well as the production costs.” 

Moisturizers are one skin care product that is falling into the customization over personalization space currently. However, an area where personalization can occur is outside of the product formula. Package labels, for example, are one element of the skin care brand story that is welcoming this type of personalization. The products are labeled by the order in which the user is recommended to apply them in their daily morning or evening routine by the brand's skin care advice tool.

“We will see more examples of ‘practical creativity’ from skin care brands in this space in 2021,” shares Semykoz.

Click to EnlargeScientific communication first

In terms of the quality of communication consumers crave, conscious consumerism is crucial and is reflected in the brands that consumers actively opt to interact with and buy from. Ultimately, consumers choose brands that stand for something. 

Consumers want to hear the brands’ points of view on the topics that are important to their values and impact their purchasing decisions. Consumers are also willing to listen to brands’ explanations for their formulation, ingredient and overall brand choices. 

“Especially when these explanations come from qualified spoken people such as dermatologists, chemists, toxicologists, sustainability specialists,” Semykoz highlights. 

The next step is injecting funds into getting these vital messages across to consumers.  “Brands need to invest in making this communication accessible to the general public,” says Semykoz. Today, the industry sees “more science communication specialists available on the labor market”. 

“I am convinced that every reputable skin care brand will find themselves needing a science communication team soon enough,” explains Semykoz. 

Telling a story

Slick and chic brand messaging is getting an upgrade. Unique selling points and beautiful use of vocabulary are still desirable, but beauty and personal care communication need to go beyond these marketing considerations. It needs to balance attractive and engaging content with facts, research and data.  

“What consumers do not need, or, at least are becoming tired of, is the overly poetic marketing language around the product benefits,” says Semykoz. “While it works in high-ticket advertisement, in a digitally-dominated world, consumers are looking for more substance and specificity.” 

Honest, unambiguous and transparent information that provides value through accurate and credible messaging is essential. Communicating the choice of ingredients, the manufacturing process and supply chain considerations, for example, are all ways brands today can create a two-way conversation based on scientific communication. 

In the Innova Beauty and Personal Care 2020 survey, 45% of global consumers agreed or strongly agreed with the statement: I am prepared to spend more on skin care products backed up by scientific claims. 

“Storytelling is still absolutely key to successful marketing communication, but consumers are looking for stories that put them into the center of action, equipping them with the specific and clear information they need to make decisions,” relays Semykoz.

By Natasha Spencer-Jolliffe, BPC Insights Senior Journalist