Estée Lauder Joins Prestige Beauty Lineup on Amazon, Launches Virtual Foundation Tool
Estée Lauder is the latest prestige beauty brand to join the Amazon roster.
The company, which initially entered Amazon with just its Clinique brand earlier this year, now has a dedicated, branded Estée Lauder storefront for its flagship brand, alongside a skin analysis tool that offers customized product recommendations based on consumers’ skin types and concerns.
The brand's debut on the premium beauty store adds another e-commerce revenue stream for Estée Lauder's skincare, makeup, and fragrance portfolio, and allows them to leverage Amazon membership benefits such as free, expedited shipping.
Now, through a new virtual foundation tool that’s exclusively available on Amazon, consumers will also be able to find their preferred shade from 55 options for Estée Lauder’s Double Wear product and immediately add it to their shopping cart.
Also read: Estée Lauder's AI-Powered Trend Spotter
The company is also using media on Prime Video with its existing Game Day, Your Way sports campaign to bolster the launch.
Justin Boxford, global brand president for Estée Lauder, said the company is using the channel as an opportunity to reach a highly engaged, multi-generational beauty community, targeting them through high-touch experiences.
Meeting Consumers Where They Are
This follows a trend of luxury companies seeking new opportunities to engage with consumers wherever they are — and this includes Amazon.
High-end consumers are much more difficult to acquire and retain, Marshal Cohen, chief retail advisor for Circana, previously told CGT. Simply purchasing ads on Amazon is not enough. “You need to find the right consumers and then sell the product to them.”
Interacting with the consumer is a critical part of keeping the brand elevated and resonating, he said. This is a good example of why Estée Lauder has launched supplemental technologies like virtual personalized foundation and skincare tools within its Amazon storefront.
More from Cohen: Luxury Brands Like Versace, Chanel & Giorgio Armani Betting Big on Digital Consumer Engagement
It requires a differentiated strategy for each channel — something that L’Oreal unlocked in its own move to the marketplace. After testing the waters with its Lancome and Kerastase brands, it found increased penetration on the channel, with 73% of consumers who made a purchase on Amazon being new to the Lancome brand, according to Cyril Chapuy, president of L’Oreal’s luxury division.
“We decided to go on Amazon because the quality of the dialogue we had with them has evolved drastically,” said Chapuy of the company’s initial wariness of jumping on board. “It took us almost three years of discussion to go on Amazon. And they understood progressively what luxury experience has to be.”
During a recent call with investors, Nicolas Hieronimus, L’Oreal's CEO, said the effort is helping recruit new consumers, better control pricing and quality of exposure, and push more some categories that were underserved in selective retail.
Amazon’s premium beauty store continues to grow and includes such brands as Oribe, Rene Futerer, R+Co, V76, Obagi, iS CLINICAL, Dermatologic Cosmetic Laboratories, and Jan Marini.
