In an ever-evolving eCommerce landscape, beauty brands are finding themselves at a crossroads with the emergence of TikTok Shop. This holiday season, TikTok made a significant impact with livestream contests and enticing discounts, pushing beauty brands toward two crucial decisions—to be present or not be present and to sell or not to sell on this new platform.
 
The surge of social commerce has elevated consumer brand awareness and pushed brands into chasing the possibility of going viral. Yet, for beauty brands, deciding which social media platforms to invest in involves a balance. Some may choose to use social media for branding and marketing directing potential customers to their branded webstore while others may decide to create a “store” on the platform. When it is the latter there are intricate considerations of supply, demand, fulfillment, and data collection.
 
Social commerce has undoubtedly grown as a channel for eCommerce, opening another potential revenue stream for brands across the retail vertical. The beauty industry is poised to benefit significantly from this trend, as social commerce provides a closer touchpoint with consumers and gives smaller brands with fewer resources the opportunity to be “found”.
 
The challenge lies in capturing consumers’ attention, ensuring seamless click-to-delivery processes, and generating brand followers to spread the word. Beauty brands entering the realm of social commerce, particularly TikTok Shop, must align their marketing, inventory, supply chains, and fulfillment operations with consumer expectations.
 
A critical aspect is the capability to support fulfillment and customer service needs, ensuring products are available and reaching customers regardless of when those viral moments happen. Consumers don’t care which platform they purchase from; they prioritize timely delivery and visibility during the order journey.
 
However, the road to success in social commerce can be challenging. Beauty brands need to access the right industry expertise or find themselves hindered by their inability to adapt swiftly to accelerated growth. Additionally, engagement with emerging platforms like TikTok Shop potentially poses barriers, particularly regarding ownership of customer information – a pivotal factor for long-term growth.
 
Beauty brands must decide if the sales opportunity is worth not having access to customer emails and other information acquired through transacting with the platform and what it means for long-term growth plans.
 
In the age of social commerce, beauty brands must carefully reflect on whether the appeal of possible explosive growth outweighs the potential impacts on customer loyalty if they are not able to deliver on their promises.