An Innovative Distribution Strategy for Beauty Brands

When tackling the 4 P’s of the marketing mix, we look at distribution strategies under “place”. Finding the right channels for distribution is crucial in making sure your product ends up in the hands of your target consumer. 

The typical channels for a beauty brand would include brick and mortar, ecommerce, and direct-to-consumer. Among the different channels, there is an opportunity that most brands do not think about, which is utilizing licensed beauty specialists. These licensed individuals can include cosmetologists and estheticians. 

Beauty Professionals

According to Zippia, there are over 145,779 licensed cosmetologists and over 48,029 estheticians currently employed in the United States alone. Many of these professionals operate under their own brand and each have their own clientele. Oftentimes, they have a very close relationship to their clients as they operate at a more local level. 

With clients continuously booking, they build trust with their local esthetician, cosmetologist, or any other professional. This gives a strong opportunity to sell products through wholesale with these licensed individuals.

Wholesale

Not all beauty brands are available for wholesale, and if they are, they often do not promote it, or it is very subtle. For example, Fur, a skincare oil brand, lists “wholesale” at the bottom of their website. This allows professionals to be aware of the opportunity and gives them all the information they may need if they are interested in applying. However, unless one is actively looking through their site, they will not find out about it otherwize.

In almost all cases, a licensed individual needs to reach out to the brand directly asking if they can sell their products. From here, if they are approved they can specify which products they would like. It is then on the individual's end to decide which products they would like to have available for sale at their salons or order based on client request.

This option has benefited me as a consumer. Oftentimes we see products trending or going viral and we cannot find them at traditional retailers because they sell out so quickly. But if my local esthetician is an approved seller, she can order the product for me.

Beauty brands can leverage this not only to reach more consumers, but also to promote new products. Brands can send information regarding their latest launch for beauty professionals to use first-hand on their clients while explaining the benefits. 

Clients will not only hear about the product, but they will get to see it in use on themselves. Not only that, but it is being brought upon them by their trusted esthetician, cosmetologist, stylist, etc. vs a salesperson at a retail location.