Make Up, Matters!
Research & Insights
In late 2019, Dominic was hired to work with Charlotte Tilbury on a research and product design brief focused on the topic of Loyalty. As beauty is a new area and industry of focus for Dominic, it wanted to better understand the customer and why make-up mattered to them. He independently conducted user and market research to strengthen his understanding and outlook on the beauty industry.
He even shadowed a close friend of his, whilst she purchased make-up to better understand hers and other customers decision-making and preferences.
After conducting a thorough survey and speaking to customers directly, he was able to make better informed user-led recommendations and suggestions throughout his two assignments with Charlotte Tilbury.
Dominic included these insights within his final deliverables to Charlotte Tilbury, to provide a broad sense of customer perspective. As during his two terms with the beauty brand, he was able to speak to very loyal Charlotte Tilbury customers.
For your awareness:
The ‘Make Up, Matters!’ research was conducted between November and December 2019
The survey provider / platform was TypeForm
The client brief at the time had a specific focus on women only. Not intentionally to exclude any customers from the LGBTQ+ community.
All 84 participants were independently sourced by Dominic
Summary
Objective
To probe female customers to understand who they shop with and why. How often they shop for beauty products and how they tend to shop for those products. In addition to thoughts on how they make their beauty purchase decisions.
Age Group
26-35: 44%
18-25: 36%
40+: 12%
36-40: 7%
Locations
London, Cornwall, Brighton, Hatfield, Birmingham, Bradford, Leeds, Nottingham, Essex, Leicester, Teddington, Bath, Wokingham, Isle worth & Dubai.
Shop for Beauty
Monthly: 54%
Fortnightly: 26%
None of the Above: 10%
Weekly: 8%
Shopping Method
Both: 64%
In-Store Only: 27%
Online Only: 8%
Destinations
Beauty Retailers: 50%
Department Stores: 27%
Brand Boutique: 22%
Destinations by Name
John Lewis, Boots, Space NK, Airports/Duty-Free, Debenhams, Liberty, Harvey Nichols, Sephora, ASOS, Beauty Pie, FeelUnique, LookFantastic, House of Fraser, Westfield, Bentalls, Selfridges, Beauty Bay, Superdrug, TKMaxx & Ebay.
Favoured Brands
NARs Cosmetics: 61%
Benefit Cosmetics: 51%
Charlotte Tilbury: 38%
FENTY: 30%
Bobbi Brown: 29%
Glossier: 22%
HUDA Beauty: 16%
Hourglass: 12%
Voice of the Customer
“ I don’t buy makeup online, I don’t like it. I like the experience of going to the shop and being helped by an advisor. ”
— Customer
“ Make up brands should have loyalty schemes. Also personalised service even online.”
— Customer
“ I would predominantly buy online as there is more chance to get some sort of discount. Online stores I usually use are ASOS, Beauty Pie - exclusively Beauty Pie products, I buy a lot from here it’s newish subscription online store. ”
— Customer
“ I would potentially try in-store somewhere first to check specific textures and colours, this would normally be at a department store, SpaceNK or any airport duty free shop. ”
— Customer
Key Themes & Insights
Sustainability
Visibility of ingredients, carbon footprint & testing of products
Loyalty
Schemes/points as incentives to shop for discounts/rewards
In-Store
Shopping/sourcing the best quality product or Make Up Artist advice
Diversity
Ability to cater to broad skin tone shades for foundation
Price
Concerned of spending too much - so shop with loyalty points
Content
Make Up Artist applications, recommendations & skin types/shades
Online
Shopping for the best possible price, reviews or tutorials
Contact Dominic
Have a research brief that you need support on? Don’t know where to start or how to source participants? Get in touch with Dominic, he can support you from the very beginning all the way through to the end of your research project.