4 eCommerce Trends and Innovations in Beauty for 2021

Icecat will participate in Beauty Trends & Innovations. This is Europe’s Leading Brand-Led Virtual Beauty Conference & Networking Event on the 27th of January 2021. During the one-day event, 46 leading beauty brands, including Boots, Unilever, ASOS, M&S, Sephora, Lancôme, Coty, Estée Lauder, Rituals, Johnson & Johnson, and many more are monetizing the hottest beauty e-commerce trends for unstoppable campaigns and irresistible product innovations. Below, you will find the four beauty e-commerce trends that I foresee for 2021.

1. Virtual and augmented reality

In October 2019, Perfect Corp, the world’s leading AR company, partnered with the Chinese eCommerce giant, Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group, to integrate its YouCam Makeup AR virtual try-on technology. For example, for augmented shopping experiences on Taobao and Tmall Alibaba. This brought new virtual try-outs to consumers in China. Just six months into using Perfect Corp’s AR technology, Alibaba revealed they had increased their conversion rate by four times. Since then, new technology in the beauty industry is coming up rapidly for big brands like L’Oréal. For instance, popular social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, incorporate this technology into banner advertisements that allow consumers to click and virtually try on makeup products without ever leaving their app. Brands like Chanel, YSL, Charlotte Tilbury, and Maybelline now offer VR try on services across their website and mobile apps.

AI software spending by region

2. Sustainable and transparent

Consumers are now seeking more sustainable and transparent brands in their ingredient list as they look for natural products. Whilst clean beauty has been a rising buzz across the industry since 2018, it is still a controversial, confusing, and ever so enigmatic subject that can present more questions than answers.

3. Big data for product development

The brands that will win in the future are the ones that can activate firstly their customers. Secondly, their followers. And finally their fans. But also really bring them into their brand, help them build the brand, product development, and marketing. This must be achieved by the rise of big data in the beauty industry. Which is collected through questionnaires, search term data, and online spending habits.

4. Influencers are an investment

Influencer marketing is part of beauty eCommerce strategies for the past few years. Exemplified by the rise of influencers and micro-influencers. Micro-influencers are influencers with smaller fan bases, traditionally 100,000 or less. The beauty industry and its advertising outlets have finally found a return of investment in renewable resources.