How Amazon Fits Into the New Beauty Playbook.
The mega e-commerce player is set to become the biggest #beauty retailer in the US, but its complexity and inflexibility is a turn-off for many brands with premium positioning.
Amazon is too big for #beautybrands to ignore.
By 2025, it’s set to overtake Walmart as the biggest US beauty retailer, and represents 14.5 percent of the total beauty market, according to Morgan Stanley.
But despite the demand, prestige beauty labels have historically shied away from selling on Amazon, with a disdain for its bare-bones, formulaic interface and the fact that customers can buy toilet paper and their pricey moisturiser in a single transaction. Still, it’s a dominant player that serves over 300 million customers worldwide.
Most beauty brands that sell on Amazon are third-party sellers, paying to appear on Amazon’s marketplace, and often, for its logistics, but not selling to Amazon as a wholesaler. Oftentimes, only working with a large, Amazon-recognised agency will help brands get in front of a dedicated account executive.
What brands want:
In order to access benefits like reseller protection, brands need to opt in the FBA — Fulfilled by Amazon — programme, which also is necessary to participate in Prime, Amazon’s expedited shipping service. To do so, Amazon charges a brand around 10 to 20 cents per unit for warehousing costs, depending on factors such as dimensions or hazmat status. Then there’s another 15.33 percent referral fee paid by sellers to Amazon for listing premium beauty products, though it’s lower for cheaper products. Finally, there’s the FBA last-mile fulfilment costs from Amazon to the customer, which, based on product weight and dimensions, it’s generally around $3 to $5 per unit.
Amazon’s fees add up to around 25 percent of the ticket price.
Selling on Amazon brings access to a massive customer base, but also carries reputational risks. Unauthorised resellers are the most prominent example. Ultimately, however, selling on Amazon means accepting there will be elements of your business you can’t control.
What are your thoughts about beauty brands (and #luxurybrands in general) emerging onto Amazon’s ecosystem?
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