The success of a brand must be based on a digital marketing strategy that increases brand awareness and generates high engagement, traffic and conversions. This is the strategy that has made Perfect Diary, an indie beauty brand, become the top-ranked makeup brand through sales at last year's 618 shopping extravaganza and Alibaba Singles Day, not a European beauty company. The fact that a domestic brand has managed to achieve these results in just four years, bodes well for the success of other local players on the market.

As CBD products increasingly become the focus of many conversation within the beauty industry, they have also already started to make their way into the beauty market. The article investigates some of the CBD products innovations, it traces their growth within the global beauty panorama, it offers a look into what the scientific world thinks of these products and it presents an overall look over Europe’s cannabis laws.

This article reports the most interesting results of a survey conducted with the aim of giving advice on how to engage consumers now. The 2/5 of the skincare buyers have asserted that they will not visit stores for a long time after the lockdown. In fact, only 14% of users intend to plan a visit to the store immediately after their reopening. Online sales are constantly growing and it is a trend that is temporarily not destined to slow down, in fact 52% of the people interviewed said that they will buy online much more frequently after the pandemic, especially cosmetics or beauty products. More than half of the skincare buyers live in the APAC region, while 17% are based in Europe, 13% in Latam, 9% based in North America and 5% in MEA. Interestingly, 50% of all worldwide online transactions come from China. Social media are also very important, used above all to stay up to date with current news or events (43%) or for brand research (36%). Another very strong trend is that of natural, sustainable, organic and eco-friendly products, as evidenced by some data: 67% of skincare buyers said they will try to buy organic and natural products; 64% are willing to pay more for eco friendly sustainable products.

Following the new health and hygiene arrangements due to covid-19, the brands had to reinvent themselves in order to guarantee their customers the same products and services, making sure they wouldn’t damage their health in any way. This article lists some examples of brands that have been able to brilliantly deal with these problems and find comfortable and effective solutions for makeup and perfumes.

Beauty Independent has interviewed some CEOs, owners and, in some cases, founders of a number of indie beauty brands to talk about their plans to help retailers come back from the lockdown.
Most sales are currently happening within the e-commerce trade; therefore deliveries have been improved and sped up, the minimum limit per order has been reduced, fast track deliveries have been approved even for small orders, the delivery fee has been dropped and there have been negotiations with the vendors for the payment terms. Furthermore a lot of discounts have been applied and the number of free samples sent to the customers has been increased, in order to make them feel special and pampered in such a critical moment, a selections of self-care products to fight stress or to keep healty were sent through drop-ship delivery as a gift for doctors, nurses or any other key worker that has continued working during this pandemic.
Communication between retailers and their brand partners has been of absolute importance: brands had to be ready to answer question about their approach or policy during this crisis in order to enable the retailers to be as transparent as they can be with their customers.
Extremely essential has also been the virtual element: it provided opportunities such as online workshops and masterclasses, along with brands and retailers collaborations for contests and giveaways, and it also served as a platform of communication to share a more human and personal side with their audience in such a delicate moment.

One of the clear symptoms of the global pandemic that shook our lives is anosmia, the permanent or temporary loss of smell, and so the following article encourages us to rediscover this sense, that too often will be neglected or overlooked. Perfumes, aromas and smells stimulate intense emotions and feelings that are worth exploring thoroughly. To do so it really isn't necessary to spend a lot of money on the most expensive perfume on the market nor buying the latest creation of a famous nose, because, actually, all you need to do is to let the everyday scents do the work for you: be swept away by the smell of coffee first thing in the morning, the smell of rain, the blossoming jasmine, the skin of a newborn baby or a basket of fresh laundry. It's just like that that a smell that awakens joyful and satisfying memories can truly change your day.

The retail of the future will be dominated by robots capable of creating any products or action, 3D printers and home based “replicator”. However, the experience of in-store purchase remains fundamental: this is the reason why major brands continue to focus on the construction of new stores.