Gone are the days when you had to try and test every cosmetic to figure out if it's right for you, your skin type or even your complexion. You had to purchase the product first and if it didn’t work, it was money down the drain. But with brands across the globe trying to eradicate such obstacles in the world of beauty, hyper-personalization is the newest trend on the block.
Have you come across ads that specifically ask for your hair type or skin type so they can curate a concoction, just for you? Or maybe seen complexion cards on websites for you to digitally visualize how makeup will look on you? Beauty shoppers are about to enter a whole new world of individualistic beauty experience, even before they buy a product.
What is hyper-personalization?
The industry is finally recognizing that the same ingredients, processes and products don’t work for different users. Keeping customer experience at the highest priority, 89% of beauty companies are trying to use augmented reality and intense biotech to overcome this barrier.
Hyper-personalization is all about curating or designing products that will specifically cater to your skin and hair types. Premium skincare at its best. This may include asking you questions about your skin type, your food habits, your coloring techniques or even using your DNA to understand and tweak the ingredients for the products YOU need.
While global brands like Prose, L’Oreal SkinCeuticals, Optune etc are completely on-board hyper-personalization, India’s still catching up with the technology. But these are some brands and products you could start with: Clinique iD or Nykaa’s detailed makeup finders and hair routine finders.
How does it help us, the buyers?
1. No more allergies, reactions
Let me tell you a little bit about my worst experience with a beauty product. I bought a perfume (after trying it on a sampler card in-store) and it reacted brutally on my skin after two hours of my first use. The same perfume left absolutely no sign of skin-irritation on my friend! When you know that the concoction you’re about to use is specifically safe for your skin, it makes a whole lot of difference.
2. Skipping the process of sampling
Let’s face it, COVID 19 has made us all cringe at the idea of sampling products in stores. Can you really go back to using the same sample product for a lip color that someone else has just used before you on her hand? Hyper-personalization makes it easier by virtually letting you try on makeup.
3. Expert association
If a brand is trying to understand your skin type and curate ingredients that will specifically suit you, there has to be an expert involved. Dermats, makeup artists and hair care experts are all going to be involved in making this experience more personal for you. It’s like having your own personal salon staff at your beck and call.
4. Saving money
Remember buying sample sizes for products, specifically luxe brands? No need for that anymore. You can directly shop the perfectly formulated product, instead of wasting money on testers.
What does it mean for brands?
1. More loyalty
Wouldn’t you be loyal to the brand that get your needs just right? You would want to keep buying this ‘perfected’ and ‘personalized’ product over and again. Enter the subscription system. A marketing model that most companies diving into hyper-personalization use.
2. Online engagement
This is a great reason to get off the brick-and-mortar market and indulge in the deep bliss of internet shopping. With virtual markets everywhere, personalization of products is a direct road to the top of the list in the industry.
3. Access to personalized data for better production
What better way to know what your customers want by directly asking them? The easiest and most-used method for hyper-personalization is a basic questionnaire. For instance, if a brand knows that the biggest skincare concern is pollution-related dark spots in a region, they know exactly what to offer their customers.
