BEAUTY

Another "Self-Made" Beauty Brand

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a celebrity in possession of followers must be in want of a beauty brand to sell. 

The latest: Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty, a 16-piece makeup line that also happens to reference the singer’s January album. 

• Rare Beauty launched yesterday online and in 1,100+ Sephora North America stores (including JCPenney shop-in-shops). 
• The brand will donate 1% of sales to a fund benefiting mental health organizations.

The landscape: Jennifer Lopez and Alicia Keys have beauty brands in the works; Lady Gaga and Millie Bobby Brown launched collections last year. Further back in the People magazine archives, breakout successes include Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty (2017) and Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Cosmetics (2015). 

Why so many?

Gomez et. al. already have millions of followers to monetize. Fans will spend on anything—candles, wine, gin—to support their faves. As for growth, the implied reach of a famous founder opens partnership doors. 

• Jason Wong, founder of Wonghaus Ventures, told me celebrity-led brands often have extra access to retailers and other influencers.

Beauty has specific perks: “That beauty is a high margin business isn't a secret,” Benjamin Lord, CMO of beauty marketplace Mira Beauty, told Retail Brew. Beauty's lower cost of goods + product variation = sought after category.

But they’re not all Fenty

That is, guaranteed to generate $72 million of sales within a month of launching. Fenty had Rihanna’s everything to back it up, but it also offered a trailblazing range of foundation shades.

So awareness ≠ market share. “Celebrity brands formed without the backing of a larger enterprise are often ill equipped to make the type of sophisticated marketing investments that take a brand from being a buzzy Instagram launch to an actual key player within the category,” Katie Groody, principal researcher at Gartner, told Retail Brew.  

Plus, the market isn’t turning in makeup’s favor—celebrity or otherwise, Groody said. “With offline purchases coming to a near halt and consumer spending slowdowns, most major beauty enterprises and retailers have reported net sales declines around 30% in the period ending June 2020.”

Bottom line: Fans-turned-customers bring celebrity beauty brands reliably huge launches. But they can fizzle when their only differentiators are the names on the labels.

C-SUITE

Speaking of Influencers...

Former Yeezy GM Jon Wexler has some ~ personal news ~: He’s becoming the VP of the influencer and creator program at Shopify. 

Résumé review: Before Wexler arrived at Adidas HQ, its three stripes were only for athletes. Then Wexler forged historic partnerships with Beyoncé and Pharrell Williams, opening the brand up to creators (and their fans). Last year, Wexler and Adidas helped Kanye West's Yeezy line reach $140+ million in sneaker sales.

Shopify’s already the low-code storefront of choice for the big names above; it’s also the place Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty and Arielle Charnas’s Something Navy call home. 

So Wexler’s arrival at the storefronts-as-a-service company hints at Shopify’s larger ambitions beyond existing clients: to position itself as the place where anyone who counts as an “influencer” goes to open an online store.  

• It could create a client flywheel: When smaller businesses are choosing between services, they may select Shopify for proximity to its highest-profile storefronts. 

Another outcome? Wexler may also oversee strategies to help existing Shopify clients build their personal brands alongside their sales. 

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Real Talk > Real World

IRL meetings aren’t a thing right now. But just ’cause you can’t meet in the real world doesn’t mean you can’t have some career-changing, future-shaping real talk.

So says Shoptalk—the event that’s shaped retail’s future for years—whose event is going virtual this fall. Oh yeah, retailers: Shoptalk Meetup brings the best of Shoptalk’s shop talking to your screen, wherever you’re at.

Maybe you’re a retailer, lookin’ to talk shop about COVID-19’s impact on business and ways you’ve weathered the storm.

Maybe you’re a startup, lookin’ to talk shop with investors and accelerators about moneyz.

Maybe you’re just a company lookin’ to make an announcement to media peeps!

Whatever you are, if you’re reading this newsletter, you’re gonna want in on this Shoptalk Meetup action. Secure one of the last remaining tix here.

APPAREL

Ugg to Sell Full-Body Slippers

After decades as the Juicy Couture tracksuit’s faithful sidekick, Ugg is striking out on its own with a ready-to-wear line.

The details: What Ugg calls “a more elevated expression of apparel” is a unisex collection that doubles as a blanket fort kit, with 30 pieces in sherpa and shearling fabrics. Shoppers can find the clothes online, plus at 130 Ugg stores and 15 Nordstrom locations. 

More clothes? In this economy? 

Now isn’t the time to start a suiting brand. Shoppers want full-body slippers as they WFH, which Ugg was born to provide. So far, the surge in loungewear has worked to Ugg’s advantage...

• Ugg was one of two footwear brands that grew during April, one of the pandemic’s worst months, per NPD data. (The other? Crocs.) 
• Searches on Ugg’s site have increased 129% since April. 

Ugg’s limited sleep and outerwear make up 10% of current sales, meaning execs see room to grow.  

It’s not just Ugg. While apparel sales are suppressed industry-wide, retailers from PVH to Tapestry say casual clothing is still flying into carts.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Estée Lauder is reviewing its entire product suite for “cultural sensitivity.”
• Walmart moved its annual holiday toy testing experience online.
• Cos is launching a resale service. 
• Burger King is developing contactless outdoor restaurants.
• Amazon is hiring another 7,000 employees across fulfillment and corporate in the U.K.
• American Dream will reopen on October 1, with retailers including H&M, Zara, and Primark.

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SWAPPING SKUS

Today’s reads are dedicated to small businesses, pure and simple.

• Omsom’s on its way to surpassing 100,000 meal starter kit sales after launching in May. Here’s how the brand pulled it off—and what it could mean for future food startups. (The New Consumer)
• From model casting to alt-text captions, brands can often overlook simple, yet effective methods to become more inclusive. But Marnie Consky and Thigh Society are getting it right. (Commerce Tea)
• Healthy Roots Dolls founder Yelitsa Jean-Charles tripled her brand’s mailing list through Twitter. Her strategy’s a mix of user-generated content and tweeting from the heart. (Twitter for Business)

Bonus reads: So you want to learn more than an article can offer? Here’s an extensive syllabus for building a business, crowdsourced from leaders in DTC. (Medium)

FRIEND OR FAUX?

Brands fired up their hype machines and launched inventive campaigns this week. Your challenge: ID the retail promo activity that didn’t happen.

1. Chewy gave out free pet toys to new pet parents for following it on Twitter.
2. Bill Belichick is the new face of Subway.
3. Fast sold launch day merch for $5 flat. 
4. Recess opened a virtual pop-up with a cloud-popping game.

Keep scrolling for the answer.

ICYMI

Catch up on the Retail Brew stories you may have missed.

• Is CVS the Next Biggest Retail Partner for Digital Brands?
• Why Nike’s Entering Maternity Retail
• Walmart+ Launch: Everything Retailers Need to Know

FRIEND OR FAUX? ANSWER

1. No Twitter toy giveaways this week, to my knowledge.