According to the research by Imogen Matthews Associates (IMA), despite the popularity and influence of YouTube around the world, it is not the first place women look for beauty information online.
Instead, consumers are turning first to brand websites. Imogen Matthews, founder of IMA, explained the newly-released findings.
“While beauty bloggers and influencers undoubtedly need to be a core constituent of brands' omnichannel strategy, our research confirms that consumers firstly look to brand websites for reassurance about products before purchasing,” she explained to Cosmetics Design.
“It is therefore incumbent on beauty brands to ensure that their websites are informational, functional and, above all, engage with their consumer.”
Mix of online sources
According to IMA’s research, before women visit You Tube for anything beauty-related, they first visit online retailers, such as Boots and John Lewis, pureplay websites, Google, Amazon and beauty blogs.
Although women who fall into the millennial consumer group are using YouTube regularly, they look to a mix of channels for beauty information.
“With 1.3bn beauty views annually, YouTube is certainly no slouch and demonstrates the importance of tutorials and video content in particular when engaging with beauty consumers of all ages,” the firm explains.
“Women aged 18-35, the all-important millennial demographic, are keen users of YouTube, but are also moving between an array of different online destinations for beauty information.”
The research was carried out through One Poll, according to IMA, and surveyed 1,000 women globally. The firm describes it as the first report to tackle what omnichannel actually means for the beauty industry.
Omnichannel approach
Ominchannel retail and marketing describes a multichannel approach that creates a seamless user journey for consumers, both online and offline, according to IMA.
“Ominchannel anticipates a seamless user journey that can be initiated, dropped, resumed and completed at any touchpoint and in almost any order,” the firm explains.
Imogen Matthews, a beauty industry expert, notes that beauty is lagging when it comes to making the most of omnichannel’s potential.
“The beauty industry has some catching up to do in the area of omnichannel, not least in understanding that every part of a brand’s business needs to be connected. Consumers expect to move seamlessly between different channels and will abandon brands that don’t offer that experience,” she asserts.