Beauty Omni-Retail: Key factors to maximize the ROI in the store

CASE STUDY

Industry: Beauty | Store: L'Bel

A decade ago, Belcorp, the Direct Sales Beauty  Company, decided to introduce one of its top brands, L’Bel, into retail. Decision pursuing two main objectives: The first, to serve as a physical catalog to improve the brand experience for its beauty consultants (B2B), and the second, as a test, to explore new opportunities of expansion to capture new audiences (B2C), as a part of accomplishing the company vision; positioning Belcorp as the First Beauty Company in LATAM.

L’Bel, as a luxury skincare beauty brand with a high technology skincare category treatment, seeks to translate its look and feel into a unique store design, a project achieved thanks to Gensler.  And, of course, they did it; it was a minimalist, elegant, and beautiful retail design with iconic luxury custom crystal ceiling curtains.

However, a surprising finding that we learned after the opening was a better understanding of the target audience's preferences. We noticed that L'Bel, through its luxury windows, communicates costly beauty products, which sometimes do not provide access to potential clients. Moreover, when the store had key anchors as neighbors, plus the notification that Sephora will open soon in the same aisle of the Mall. What a beautiful challenge!

The Plan

As a first step, we focused on maximizing exposure for products and categories with significant sales participation. All this, through a deep analysis of sales behavior by square foot, emphasizing the strategy on the following key factors.

Launch L'Bel SPA

This vital investment followed the successful launch of the "Espace Beauté", an initiative we implemented with a marketing influencer to invite opinion leaders to a beauty session with an esthetician to learn about store services through a testing experience with L'Bel products. Activation resulting in a significant increase in average ticket size for the skincare category. It was the reason we rethought the store vision plan and took the risk of readjusting the store layout, providing more square footage to build a SPA area for skin and body treatments. Investment that achieved a significant sales increase, representing 40% of the store's revenues in the same year of the SPA opening.

Personalize Service by POS Optimization

A key factor for being more competitive in a retail environment is to squeeze your data. Data is everything.  So, in order, to  potential the SPA investment, it was imperative to gain a better understanding of customers' patterns and preferences through an upgrade to the Point of Sale (POS) System that enables personalized service.   This includes integrating a scheduling system to leverage the SPA clients' appointments, as well as detailed purchase history, rewards plan, and SMS marketing, to support the store's strategy and calendar promotions.

Strategic Check-out product placement

As previously mentioned, we were competing with the earlier opening of Sephora in the same mall. In other words, another plan was to counteract the impact of that opening. So, we focused on promote and improving the testing experience by aggressively showcasing travel-size products through a captivating checkout line, plus a promo bonus during checkout, as another strategic intent to increase ticket size, resulting in a significant increase in the average purchase ticket. Takeaways: Invest in emphasizing the testing experience, it's always a win-win.

Attracting Windows Display

At the beginning, we mentioned that we obtained an insightful finding about its windows. The luxury that the L'Bel Stores communicate sometimes does not welcome new audience. So, we incorporated new visual ideas and creative communication strategies for the windows. In addition, to using other categories, like makeup and body treatments, as "entry doors" to engage. So, we took the risk of testing the L'Bel Divine, a dual-finish powder, as a call to action through creative visual communication in L'Bel store windows, highlighting the product's pricing to entice new audiences and younger consumers. The test results were excellent, L'Bel Divine's window strategy provoked an immediate reaction from customers; they used to stop to watch the window and ask for the product. In addition to aggressive store guidelines that center the strategy on increasing sales per square foot, resulting in a direct arrow to the target.

Appealing Branding Materials

When we talk about appealing branding materials, we talk about pieces that your target audience feels proud to use as a purse.  I believe this kind of item needs to achieve an "all eyes on you" effect. And, one of the most strategic items in a store is the shopping bag. So, use this finding as a key point to craft a shopping bag that, during a walk-through shopping experience at the mall, captures the attention of potential consumers through a unique, stunning design. This organic way works as an invitation to the store.

Remember, put yourself in your client's shoes—if you buy luxury, you want to show it. So, we invested in a beautiful, sexy violet metallic shopping bag that clients loved. So, if you're working in a brand experience-oriented retail store, I recommend using your stunning store shopping bag during your competitor visit. And, see what happens, trust me! If you still don't have an "all eyes on you" shopping bag, let us help design it.

Emphasis on Education (Product & Sales Speech)

Education is crucial; your sales staff are brand ambassadors and the most critical asset in a company, so invest in them. To leverage your team to achieve the highest results, offer them continuous coaching and training. For instance, Friedman Group, a leading Retail company for over 40 years, excels at providing a service culture in Retail Stores. This kind of training works perfectly if you want to train your staff in a customer behavior model, while managing several retail stores. If you request support, as a Friedman Management Certified, I can help you.

The Results

All these efforts, in addition to other activities, to leverage the store presence through partnership activations, joining key stores aligned with the L'Bel brand target (to increase foot traffic), as well as stores across the Sephora space.  Develop a media plan (including a press conference and media interviews) in the store. And the vital support of the corporate team, "as a major team player," was the crucial factor that, in the year Sephora opened in Puerto Rico, the L'Bel store was the only beauty store format in the Mall to achieve a significant sales increase.

https://trends.lbel.com/pr/magazine/