Like most people, I begin my workday by clicking on the email icon at the bottom of my desktop to begin reading and replying to any emails that came through overnight. I like to stay up to date on news across the many industries we support at Case Mason, so my Google Alerts email count is always increasing. As I was sifting through articles a few weeks back, one particular article published by Retail Drive, titled “Why beauty will continue to rule retail in 2018,” caught my eye because of our company’s extensive background in cosmetics filling and packaging. The article dives into the recent success of the retail health & beauty market and how retailers, like Sephora, Ulta and Glossier, have established themselves as the cream of the crop when it comes to delivering unmatched cosmetics shopping experiences and quality products to the consumer.
The shopping experience is a core reason why the cosmetics industry, especially Sephora, has thrived during a period of great instability for the retail sector, and that got me thinking about how we – contract manufacturers, packagers and fillers, like Case Mason – play an important role in the consumer’s cosmetics shopping experience. While we don’t design the omni-channel shopping experiences or provide the augmented reality technology that allows consumers to try on makeup and find the perfect shade to match their skin tone on their mobile phones, we are the ones that ensure the quality of the cosmetics and packaging that end up in the hands of consumers. Without high-quality products and proper packaging, all of the effort that goes into creating an omni-channel shopping experience and augmented reality technologies goes to waste. It’s our responsibility, as the manufacturers, packagers and fillers, to produce cosmetics products of the highest quality, so that retailers and brands can spend their time focusing on improving their omni-channel shopping experience.
Contract manufacturers, packagers and fillers should view themselves as the starting point for the shopping experience. The cosmetics that we produce and package will ultimately end up in a consumer’s hands, whether purchased in-store or online, and that’s something that we must take into account during every second of production. If we don’t take the proper production and quality control precautions to ensure that finished goods are of the highest quality, then we are letting the brands, retailers and consumers down. We know that just one poor product experience can deter a consumer from ever purchasing from that retailer or brand again. That’s why it’s our responsibility to treat the cosmetics we produce and package as our own products; because the quality of the products we produce is ultimately a reflection on our company and will impact sales for our clients.
In a time when the overall retail category has seen a sharp decline in sales and many retailers have been forced into bankruptcy, the numbers and trends boasted by the cosmetics sector are all the more impressive. Many experts point to the upgraded shopping experience as the main factor behind this retail cosmetics boom. Senior Vice President of Content and Commerce at SapientRazorfish, Jason Goldberg, said it best when interviewed for the Retail Drive article mentioned at the beginning of this blog, ” ‘Nobody goes shopping because they want more expensive colored powder in their bedroom,’ Goldberg said. ‘They’re shopping for cosmetics because they want to look beautiful at their spring dance or on their date or whatever the case may be. They’re literally shopping for an experience, so delivering an experience during the shopping occasion is super important.’ ” Brands and retailers are constantly testing new augmented reality technologies and improving the overall the shopping experiences for the consumer. We take pride in knowing that our attention to detail during the manufacturing, filling and packaging processes plays a role in ensuring that consumers have the best shopping experience possible.