The key points of the 'Beauty Retail Forum' 2023

On Thursday, February 23, the 'Beauty Retail Forum 2023' was held at the UPF Barcelona School of Management. In this event, professionals from the beauty and perfumery sector met, the keys to the present and future of beauty retail and perfumery with the aim of knowing the most innovative digital solutions and experiences at the point of sale. The start of the day, presented by Next in Beauty director, Helena Rodríguez, began at 10:00 in the morning, with the institutional welcome of the Vice-President of Beauty Cluster, Mary Carmen Muiños. Thanks to the presentations and interventions of the protagonists of the day, attendees witnessed the relevance of omnicanility, artificial intelligence and technology in retail will help to attain the excelence in the consumer experience in the shops. KeyPoints Beauty Retail Forum 2023The first talk was offered by Cristina Jialing, Market Research Manager at Beauty Cluster served to know the current situation of the beauty market, as well as the buying habits of consumers. His intervention helped to visualize that there is a concern regarding the purchase of certain product segments, and the behavior of Generation Z and Millennials. His presentation also showed that in skincare, the most demanded products are moisturizers, especially those that prevent the appearance of wrinkles and that there has been an increase in demand for sun protection products..The second shift was for Virginia Garcia, Client Development Manager at Nielsen IQ and exposed relevant information about the present and future of the sector. He explained that the consumer, with the current social and economic context is more cautious and polarized since labor and financial security has become paramount. Virginia Garcia argued that consumers have changed their buying strategies and that buying frequency has increased, and now more than ever, looking for offers, savings and promotions, despite the fact that promotional intensity by brands has decreased and promotional efficiency in Spain is below the European average. Besides, they aim to that the consumer and also the governments, demand products more sustainable, by what will force to the companies to be more sustainable, and therefore, to innovar in the short term.In addition, they point out that consumers and also governments demand more sustainable products, so companies will be forced to be more sustainable, and therefore, to innovate in the short term.Regarding market figures, from Nielsen IQ, point to a growth in hygiene and beauty driven by the price lever in 2022. The categories that grew the most last year were fragrance, makeup and sunscreens, and as for the channels a recovery of the drugstore market is perceived. Inclusive, multicultural beauty, age diversity (gray hair, menopause) and gender neutral also gains visibility during the last year and is proposed 2023 as a complex year with a cautious consumer who will have to be convinced that you have to take care, but you value pampering yourself on the outside. Alfonso Alonso Business Development Manager at TRISON, posed a clear question: Is the experience at odds with functionality? From TRISON they wanted to convey the message that we must offer visual, interactive solutions to encourage communication and the need for online to reach offline to be true omnichannels. Alonso explained that the 'funnel' or sales process was the same: attract, generate a memorable memory and conversion. He advanced that in beauty retail visibility and content is key to effectively communicate the brand and products, and the importance of offering technological solutions adapted to attack three of the five senses.To end the first part of the day, Raúl Ciprés, Founder Partner & CEO at Creativialab, and Jordi Puig Founder & Partner CEO at ADEST, explained the hybrid consumer journey and the relevance of generating a footprint in support, as well as the importance of the omnexperience that occurs in a dual way. "You don't have to be obsessed only with bits of the journey. Today you can track and monitor the point of sale to know, listen and satisfy the customer's needs in a close, attractive, instant and connected way" explained Creativia, who highlighted the benefits of being able to analyze metrics in real time and demonstrated this with an experience during the event.After the coffee break, Amalia Fumanal, explained to the speakers the importance for consumers to live the shopping experience, emphasizing that users do not buy products, but experiences, and that the physical experience is not exclusive of digital. Fumanal also stressed that companies must pay special attention to data so that they represent a value in the future for companies. This will result in an improved user experience, which will have a direct impact on the company's image. With this, he exposed the concept of omniverse that seeks to eradicate and minimize the border between OFF and ON. To conclude his presentation he argued what should be the concept 'Phygital' that companies must adopt to get experiences, interaction in the customer journey, interconnection and the strategy of data and automation.The first of the success stories of this day was for Freshly Cosmetics. Salva Marsal Communications and Corporate Press Manager at the cosmetics startup born in Reus explained how this company has forged its success with spectacular growth in the last five years. Marsal wanted to highlight the importance of continuing to add Freshly Fan and how they have managed to expand and strengthen their portfolio of products and references, which has been the work and a team of more than 250 people. To give the Step to the Shopping Centers, was, according to the head of communications and press the largest push' for Freshly Cosmetics, which starts 2023 with the forecast to open a dozen stores this 2023.Diana Guzmán, Director of Marketing & Digital Ecosystem presented the second case study story of the 'Beauty Retail Forum 2023'. Guzmán explained the transformation of the centers 'Clarel' to 'Clarel Senses' and how they have achieved this new concept in which the well-being and experience of user is the epicenter of the project. 'Clarel Senses', after a process in which the first step was the ideation of the model and its subsequent validation in 2022, is in full transformation and installation of these stores until next 2027, as Diana Guzmán indicated.To conclude the celebration of this second edition of the 'Beauty Retail Forum', a round table moderated by 'Next In Beauty' director, Helena Rodríguez, invited to reflect on the main points that will mark the present and the future of retail. Gloria Pavía (Europe PR Lead at LUSH), Diana Guzmán (Marketing Director at Clarel), Jordi Calduch (CEO of Sampling Innovations), Luana Prieto (Business Advisor at MDB Suite) and Raquel Sarradell (Head E-Commerce and Marketing at MiiN Cosmetics) participated in this debate. Some of the issues that were discussed were the presence of brands in social networks and the particular strategy of LUSH UK&I to disappear from the social networks of the Meta group, and that still, achieved record figures in the month of December. "LUSH is experience. When you go to one of our stores, you want to touch everything, smell it, live it... What we have achieved is that they want to come to our physical store" clarified Gloria Pavia.The consumer remains the center and some brands are realizing what exists far beyond Generation Z and millennials. Boomers or those also known as silvers begin to be recognized and perceived by brands as a new opportunity. As Luana explained it from what is lived from the hairdressing sector: "in the hairdressing sector we have a lot of silver and it is wonderful. It is a consumer who has money and time and that is fundamental." "It must be borne in mind that these people have greater purchasing power are the most relaxed in terms of inflation. They are in the moment to enjoy life and give themselves their little luxuries" added Diana Guzmán. From another point of view of the chain of value, Jordi Calduch, shared that this type of customers values other appearances that happen unobserved for the young generations: "this generation values more the direct attention because they value the moment of the purchase. Another factor, is that have a lot of criterion because it also has more time to inform ." Besides, as it signalled the Head E-commerce of MiiN Cosmetics, Raquel Sarradell, now, handle totally the on-line trade: "it is a target that is had to buy on-line because in the pandemia eradicated the fear".Finally, one of the trends that has accompanied us for years and that will obviously continue to do so for a long time is sustainability. From Sampling, they live sustainability as a driver that is critical for many of their customers and that grew exponentially during the pandemic years. Raquel Sarradell of MiiN Cosmetics, stressed that it has been the result of an evolution of society, but that with the strong impact of inflation offer a sustainable solution without having an impact on a rise in the price of the product is increasingly difficult and that must be accompanied by a change in the buying habits of users.

The key points of the 'Beauty Retail Forum' 2023

Innovation, digitization and omnichannel are the main axes to take into account when improving the consumer experience at the point of sale