Beauty.com reinvigorated by makeover

Chain Drug Review, Jan 5, 2009

BELLEVUE, Wash. -- In the same way that brick-and-mortar chains can take advantage of in-store marketing, online retailers can capitalize on onscreen initiatives.

The power of that ability is exemplified by drugstore.com's redesign of Beauty.com.

The project was a cross-functional internal effort that included consultations with beauty editors and drugstore. com's best beauty customers. The e-tailer's marketing and consumer insights teams conducted a competitive analysis and usability studies. The internal creative team put together mock-ups and the project's managers then created business requirements for the information technology department.

Beauty.com was relaunched in 2007 with "an elevated look and feel," says vice president and chief marketing officer Dave Lonczak, "and received tremendously positive reviews from the beauty and manufacturing communities."

What had been "just another tab on drugstore.com" was now "on a par with nordstrom. com and the online Sephoras of world and, in some ways maybe, had leapfrogged them," he says. "The marketing team led the effort, working with the beauty merchandising team to really define what online beauty is."

The proof of those statements is in the results. Drugstore.com's beauty business advanced more than 40% in 2007 in a down market, and through three quarters in 2008 was up more than 30% despite the economy.

The site is differentiated neither by products nor pricing. Most of the offerings are available at other prestige beauty retailers, and cannot be discounted as per supplier rules.

But Beauty.com presents an unmatched "look and feel and site experience," says Lonczak. "It's easy to use and easy to understand with enjoyable features and functions." One of the most popular features, Beauty Horoscope, has already been knocked off more than once, he adds.

There are videos on the site from hairstyle experts, cosmeticians and makeup artists. And fashion tips link clothing to beauty products. "These were all industry-leading programs or features," Lonczak notes.

The site's online skin care and hair care advice emulates and "in some ways surpasses" the face-to-face recommendations one might get at a makeup counter at a department store, Lonczak notes.

In short, beauty.com is the complete package, says Lonczak. "The public relations and the marketing and merchandising overall really has distinguished Beauty.com and continues to distinguish drugstore.com from the competition," he says.