Online beauty product sales present a crucial opportunity for brands to grow and expand their reach. Case in point; Ulta’s online sales surged nearly 40% in Q1of 2016, totaling more than $60 million. Estee Lauder’s e-commerce has grown by 26% year over year and accounted for 8% of overall sales in Q1 of 2016.

As ecommerce sales continue to rise, brands that design solely for physical sales and interaction, without proper consideration for online nuances, are being left behind.

Some key areas to consider when proactively designing for online selling:

1. Let’s explore the world of color. When we think about color for online, many things haven’t changed; for example, bold colors still help create impact.  Color is a hugely important device used to intuitively communicate a product message to the customer. That said, there are some important nuances beauty brands need to consider.  Like everything in life, context is key. The majority of online beauty retailers— sites from Ulta and Sephora all the way to Amazon— show products against a white background. This means designs relying on blocks of white to communicate simplicity or clinical positioning will find they “disappear” in an online environment. It also means some bright colors, like yellow or orange, previously synonymous with the “pop on shelf,” suddenly fall dangerously close to a blur. But, there are many ways to use color as an advantage online. Deeper colors (like Olay’s dark red) or pops of bold color (like Clinique’s Summer at the Beach Makeup Kit) can be an effective way to catch the eye of someone browsing online, but also on shelf. 

2.  Now, let’s think about the role of language. Every beauty product has many levels of language—from brand name to product name, from claims to regulatory copy—all tied together by a unifying and (ideally) distinct tone of voice. Online, language has an even more important role than it does at shelf. With product photos being small, and standardized, often the content below the images are the first point of reference for a consumer. Suddenly, having an evocative name and a pithy, compelling description becomes more important than the claims on pack.

3. Navigation differences in the digital landscape are yet another reason for the elevated role of language and color.  In store, beauty products tend to be arranged as brand families (e.g. Bliss or Bobbi Brown) while online products are usually grouped based on their benefits (anti-wrinkle cream) or usage occasion (e.g. “summer looks”). The in-store navigation model means consumers shop within a brand so masterbrand associations and brand trust are of primary importance. Whereas online, consumers can search their need exclusively to compare only those products that meet specific needs—such as searching all anti-wrinkle creams online, rather than just anti-wrinkles creams from a single brand in-store.

For example, the brand Philosophy stands out for their use of impactful language that helps it differentiate the brand online. Their anti-wrinkle product features the clever and intuitive words “Miracle Worker,” in a stark black and white color scenario. The same goes for the moisturizing gel cream from BLISS, which features nothing on the pack but the large product name “Firm, Baby, Firm” shown in dark purple against a light purple backdrop, which creates real impact.  Brands that utilize scale to increase product visibility in-store must rethink to adapt for ecommerce. Conversely, products with language that is too small to read online or lacks in personality risk being passed over by impatient consumers.

As digital channels for beauty product sales become more and more pervasive, brands must be strategic in their quest to remain relevant and be found. Through thorough and ongoing competitive category reviews, brand equity studies, understanding online and offline channels and how consumer-shopping behavior differs between channels, brands can achieve multichannel success. There are opportunities for brands to excel in all selling environments; it just takes some additional consideration. Experiment with different colors, try new formats and elevate the language. The key is to design proactively by experimenting with color, trying new formats and elevating the language, while keeping all channels in mind.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Camilla Crane is a brand strategist at Elmwood, specializing in positioning, research & insights, customer experience, and storytelling.