Knowing how to sell makeup online is an art.
Beauty and fashion are ever-growing industries, and if you have a knack for cosmetics and makeup, you could start a makeup business of your own.
Don’t worry if you don’t know how to sell makeup online; this article will address that
Here are seven tips that can help you sell makeup online.
1. Know Your Customers
Before you start selling makeup online, it’s important to find out who you’re selling to. It will help you in personalizing the experience for your customers.
Consider the following points for improving their experience as well:
- Include the complete description and hi-res product pictures so that your buyers don’t feel like they’re missing out on important information.
- Include pictures of your makeup on models so that people can get a good idea of the different shades.
- Float surveys to know what your customers are expecting from you, and what they exactly want.
2. Find Your Niche
The beauty industry is magnanimous. And with the huge scope for growth, there also comes intense competition to get your product to stand out, which is usually difficult in the beginning.
Instead of catering to the whole crowd, narrow down your target audience and find a niche for yourself. Make sure your product is unique and you have a unique selling point (USP) in that niche to stand out.
Here are a few more questions that you can ask yourself to find your niche:
- Is there a product you wish to have in your own beauty routine?
- Is there a particular beauty problem that you are facing or know others who are facing it and you think you can solve it?
- What kind of people do you think will have the most use for your makeup products?
- Is there a particular age group or geographical region that you are targeting?
3. Source A Manufacturer
The third step in how to sell makeup online is to source a manufacturer. There are two ways to do this.
The first is where you work with a manufacturer who produces your unique product. It will require researching cosmetics well, and you can also label your products as ‘original’.
The second option is called white labeling, where you use a generic product manufactured by someone and sell it under your own label. You will need to make small alterations in color, fragrance, etc., and take permission from the manufacturer.
However, in this option, you can establish credibility, as the products are unique and original completely. However, the process would be easier in this case than the first one.
Consider these questions when looking for white label manufacturers:
- Are there any specific ingredients that you don’t want in your products? For instance, if you want to sell vegan or organic makeup, also what preservatives they use to keep it fresh.
- Is the supplier approved in your country? In the United States, they will need to be compliant with the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA) and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act).
- Is there any minimum order cap? You wouldn’t want to commit to a volume higher than you’re ready for in the beginning.
- Do they provide product packaging?
4. Brand And Package Your Makeup
Branding would include the small elements that create a particular impression of your product on people’s minds. The tone of voice, your images, logo, etc. all together create your brand.
- Imagery – Start with your brand’s imagery and colors first. Colors play a more important role than you think. You can even use color psychology to align the colors of your brand with the interests of the potential buyers in your niche.
- Logos – Get an appealing logo designed, and blend your colors in it as well for brand consistency.
- Packaging – Packaging is not just for safe delivering your products but to also give your customers a great unboxing experience. Make your packaging fun and stylish to enhance their experience and also include your logo and imagery in it.
- Labeling – Labeling would require you to keep a check on your country or state’s legal requirements. They would need you to mention things like safety and allergy guidelines, ingredient list, messaging or claims made on the packaging, etc.
5. Choose A Platform
The above-mentioned points will help you in creating your brand and getting it ready for business. But you’d still be wondering how to sell makeup online.
Here are three ways in which you can do it:
Own Website – You can create your own website which would be your eCommerce store where you could sell your makeup. You can create a website easily with the help of a website builder like Shopify, BigCommerce, Wix, etc.
Or else if you want, you could hire a professional to create it for you as well. Add the required eCommerce functionalities and plugins to it, so that you can seamlessly run your business.
Online Marketplaces – An online marketplace is a common space where multiple vendors are selling their products, like Amazon.
There’s no scope for customization here and you would also have to deal with a lot of competition. But it will save you the trouble of going out and looking for the audience.
The audience will themselves come to the marketplace and if they see your product and like it, they would buy it. Glambot.com and Etsy are great marketplaces for selling makeup online.
Dropshipping – In this option, you won’t have to worry about inventory or shipping at all.
Whenever you receive the order, you simply need to convey it to your supplier, and they would ship the product directly to the customer.
However, the profit margin is much lesser in this case. Oberlo is a great site to help you with dropshipping.
6. Ship Your Makeup
To make the process of shipping easy for you, we’ve broken it down into steps:
- Set the origin address – The origin address will matter as it will determine how the taxes are going to be calculated. It could be your home, office, workshop, etc.
- Consider destinations – Shipping costs will vary when you’re shipping, locally, within your country, or internationally. Create your shipping zones with different rates for different countries, states, and zip codes.
- Inform the customers – Make sure you the customer is aware of the shipping costs before checking out. You can provide free shipping, fixed-rate, flexible rate depending on the weight or another factor, paid shipping up to an amount but free over it, and so on.
- Choose a courier – There are various reliable couriers to choose from, like USPS, UPS, FedEx, UK Royal Mail, and Canada Post.
7. Market and Promote Your Makeup
Now that you know how to sell makeup online, you need to learn to market it well. Start a blog and optimize it for SEO to drive a lot of genuine traffic.
Create your business handle on different social media platforms and promote your brand on all of them. Influencer marketing is one of the best ways for marketing makeup products.
Collaborate with fashion and beauty influencers and ask them to promote your products on their handles in exchange for a fee or free merchandise. Since they have a genuine following, it could create a huge impact on your business.
Conclusion
Earlier people used to prefer buying makeup from physical stores mostly. However, they are quite open to the concept of ordering it from home and receiving it at their doorstep now.
In this article, we have told you how to sell makeup online in detail. If you follow all these steps properly, you’ll see your makeup business take off in no time.
