
// Development
How to Start an Online Beauty Supply Store?
// Development
Cosmetics are a highly sought-after product on which you can build a profitable online business. However, for this, you need to organize everything correctly, since it is necessary to go a long way from the idea to the desired output. First of all, you need to choose the right strategy and plan each step.
You need to search for a niche among product groups that are gaining popularity and have a large audience reach. It's relatively easy to do this, the main thing is not to believe ads and articles like "Top 10 Trends in 2021", as they are often wrong (or are native ads).
For example, according to such articles, eco-and natural cosmetics are now gaining popularity. However, if we look at what people are looking for on the Internet using Google Trends, we see a different picture.
In fact, this niche has sunk in 10 years. The reason is simple: first, customers ask, "Give us something without sulfates and parabens." And the next time they say: "My hair isn’t combed well enough from this eco-brand, give me L’Oreal. At least it works as it should". In addition, natural cosmetics is long and difficult: "first you rub tar and coconut oil into your head, and then you rinse it 5 times and comb it for half an hour. Whereas with the usual shampoo: I washed my hair, dried it with a hairdryer, it seems to be good, so I ran to work".
Sustainability is appreciated in words, but in practice - simplicity.
Another example - in the last few years, the skin intellectual movement seems to be gaining popularity. These are consumers who understand the composition of cosmetics and approach the ingredients from a scientific point of view, that is, adherents of evidence-based cosmetics. In reality, this is a dying trend.
The point is that skin intellectuals, eco-cosmetics, natural cosmetics, and much more (for example, V-beauty products) are marketing, behind which are certain brands that promote their products with the help of such "trends".
When looking for a profitable niche, you should rely only on analytical tools: statistics on search queries and sales.
The next step in opening an online store is choosing a business model. Most Popular:
Dropshipping. A type of mediation in which the buyer first places an order in an online store, then the seller purchases the product from the supplier or manufacturer and sends it to the end customer. In this scheme, the store does not need a warehouse and complex logistics. Profit is formed due to the margin between the prices of buying goods from the supplier and selling to the client.
Business model benefits:
Business model benefits:
Business model benefits:
Business model benefits:
For example, if you are targeting the United States of America, then Amazon Best Sellers listing is handy. There you can find products that have received recognition from buyers in your niche.
Most Popular Beauty Products on Amazon
When choosing product names, use these criteria:
Alibaba has MOQ requirements, AliExpress does not
There are a few tips to keep in mind when looking for a supplier:
Organica is an example of a WordPress theme for a cosmetics store. Worth $ 48.
Development from scratch. Complex, expensive and time consuming option. They choose it if they want to create a unique online store, radically change the design or add new functions. Almost all large marketplaces are built from scratch, usually with the help of outsourced technical partners. How to find and choose such a partner is described in the article: «How to Choose Development Company»
Here is the estimated cost of developing a website for an online cosmetics store, broken down by features and hourly rates of $ 50 and $ 100:
SaaS-solutions. Cloud platforms to which you can connect and immediately get an almost ready-to-launch online store. You just need to customize it a little (choose a theme, color scheme, payment services, functions) and add product cards. You are only responsible for marketing and sales, everything else is on the SaaS provider. The cost of such a service is from 50 to 5000 dollars / month depending on the service, subscription and store income (some charge a commission on each transaction).
Here is a comparison of the most popular e-commerce platforms to launch an online cosmetics store by Ecommerceceo.com: