Getting a tablet this holiday season? Time for cosmetics to target m-commerce

Mobile commerce is on the rise, following in the footsteps of e-commerce, its older brother, and with holiday season upon us market research firm IDC is projecting that tablet and smartphone sales will “grow 55.8 percent and 39.5 percent year-over-year respectfully”; showing the vast opportunity available.

It is a growing area for consumers to purchase products on their mobile device, and has seen the birth of more and more mobile sites and tablet experiences from cosmetics rivals such as Estée Lauder and L’Oréal.

Holiday opportunity​

Therefore, as shopping activity increases around the holidays, mobile can give brands an important opportunity to tell their story and forge a connection with shoppers.

“We see more than 20 percent of traffic coming through mobile devices with a double digit growth rate,”​ says Alessio Rossi, vice president of digital strategy at L’Oréal’s Lancome brand.

“This is both the effect of a natural shift of how the Internet is consumed and the sophistication of our clientele. She wants to learn about the brand, get tips, read reviews, locate a store or shop at any time and from everywhere which is what we just delivered.”​

New mobile interface​

Rossi makes his comments as Lancome looks to capitalize on the market with the launch of its new mobile and tablet storefronts.

The new mobile experience sites were designed and implemented by SapientNitro and leverages the Demandware Commerce platform – the same commerce solution powering Lancôme’s ecommerce website.

“The holiday shopping experience has changed dramatically in the last five years. Today’s always-on consumers want to personally connect with their brands across all devices,”​ said Jaspreet Singh, mobile and emerging platforms lead, SapientNitro.

“The holiday season provides a critical opportunity for brands to tell their story in a way that forges a deeper connection with their consumers.”​

What’s good for the goose…​

Cosmetics retailer e.l.f. has also used the holiday season to maximize its mobile output, designing new mobile storefronts for its digital commerce platform; this time more concentrated on smartphones.

Traffic to e-retail site EyesLipsFace.com stemming from iPhones November 27 through December 12 soared nearly 600 percent year over year, it reports.

Revenue from iPhone visits has jumped 500 percent as customers no longer need to try and navigate the full e-commerce site as they now have a specially designed mobile interface.

Smartphone traffic accounts for between 30-40 percent of total traffic to EyesLipsFace.com, the company says. So far, shoppers on the new m-commerce site are converting to buyers at a rate of 2 percent.