Cosmetics is a very popular product. You can establish a profitable online beauty supply business. However, to do this, you need to organize all content correctly, because there is a long way to go from idea to desired output. First, you need to choose the right strategy and plan every step.

Determine your niche

It is better to open a cosmetics store online to sell narrow but popular products, rather than sell them all at once. This method avoids direct competition with large online stores, because in this case, it can create a customized website and marketing strategy for a narrow target audience, which is cheaper and has a higher conversion rate.

You need to find a niche market in the increasingly popular product group and have a large audience. It is relatively easy to do this. The main thing is not to believe in advertisements and articles such as "Ten Trends in 2021", because they are often wrong (or native).

For example, according to these articles, ecological and natural cosmetics are becoming more and more popular. However, if we use Google Trends to observe what people are looking for on the Internet, we will see different pictures.

In fact, this market segment has shrunk in the past 10 years. The reason is simple: First, customers will ask: "Give us something without sulfate and p-hydroxybenzoate." Next time, they will say: "I don't comb the hair of this eco-friendly brand well enough. Give me L'Oreal." At least it can work normally. " In addition, natural cosmetics are long and difficult: "First you rub tar and coconut oil on your head, then you wash it five times and comb it for half an hour. And use ordinary shampoo: I washed my hair and dried it with a hair dryer. It seems very good, so I ran to work."

Sustainable development is praised in words, but in practice - simple.

As another example, in the past few years, the skin intellectual movement seems to be more and more popular. These consumers understand the ingredients of cosmetics and deal with them from a scientific perspective, that is, followers of evidence-based cosmetics. In fact, this trend is dying out.

The key is that skin intellectuals, ecological cosmetics, natural cosmetics and more (such as V-beauty products) are being marketed, and some brands are using this "trend" to promote their products. When looking for profitable niche markets, you should only rely on analysis tools: search queries and sales statistics.

Select a business model of a store

The next step in opening an online store is to choose a business model. Most popular:

Dropshipping。 A type of intermediary in which the buyer first places an order in the online store, and then the seller purchases the product from the supplier or manufacturer and sends it to the end customer. In this scheme, stores do not need warehouses and complex logistics. Profit is formed by the difference between the price of goods purchased from suppliers and the price of goods sold to customers.

manufacturer. It is cheaper and easier to create your own website than to open physical outlets or find retailers. The profit from marketing is also low, because they need to give a profit of 10-30%.

Business model advantages:

You decide the value of the goods by yourself;

You control all processes - from production to delivery;

It is difficult, expensive and risky, but you can establish your own franchise.

agency. You buy a commodity, store it in the warehouse, and then sell it through the online store. This is a more complex and expensive dropshipping, but you can control the quality of goods, their compliance and delivery process.

Business model advantages:

It is more complex and expensive than dropshipping, but it can significantly reduce the risks related to the delay of goods in customs and the failure of bulk cargo ships;

You can establish closer communication with customers.