Spotlight: The beauty subscription boom

Royal Mail has reported that 26% of Brits are now signed up to subscription boxes, either for themselves or as a gift for others. The value of this market in the UK is predicted to be £1.8 billion by 2025.

The pandemic over the last 18 months massively accelerated this trend as consumers limited trips outside the home to shop. Whether it’s coffee, candles, boxer shorts, laundry tabs, weekly meals, or shaving gear, subscription boxes are big business.

So what’s driving the success and what are the opportunities for the beauty industry?

We take a closer look….

The History of Subscriptions

Subscription models have been around since the 17th century, based on anything from signing up to regular deliveries of drinking water to book clubs. In the 1970s subscription TV was launched, and in the 2000s came subscription boxes. Today, the biggest sector is food and drink, with recipe services and pre-prepared meal deliveries worth £1 billion in the UK. Health and beauty subscription boxes have also boomed and are forecasted to be worth £92 million by 2025, with 11% of UK shoppers signed up to a health & beauty subscription box service.

So what has powered this success story?

• Convenience: The most obvious benefit is convenience. Subscription models offer a time-saving, hassle free option, especially for regular use of replenishment products like razors or deodorants

• Discovery: Consumers can trial products from brands they may never have discovered themselves if not stocked their usual retailers e.g. beer box subscriptions showcasing small, independent breweries. The expert curation also appeal to those who may be overwhelmed with choice in crowded markets

• Value: Subscription boxes often promote the value saving of their offer e.g. save £60 vs purchasing individually

• Gifting: With a subscription available for nearly anything, tailored time period options to suit any budget, and delivery to the lucky recipients door, subscription boxes make perfect gifts (or, lets face it, self treats)

The Beauty Players

Birchbox was launched in 2010, pioneered by Katia Beauchamp and Hayley Barna, aiming to reach customers who didn’t have the time, interest or expertise in shopping beauty themselves. For a monthly fee, customers could trial curated edits by beauty experts at home through sample and travel sized products, with full sized products available to buy on their online store if you discovered a product you loved. However, over the years Birchbox has struggled against rising competition as more and more players such as Glossybox entered the market. Retailers have increasingly got in on the act too, with brands like Look Fantastic, Lush, Sephora and Walmart all running subscription schemes.

Launched in 2016 by Marcia Kilgore, Beauty Pie has taken the beauty subscription model in a different direction. For a monthly membership fee, subscribers can access exclusive discounted pricing vs non-members, with the ambition of providing DTC high-end beauty products without the usual industry mark-up. A loyal membership base, know as the #PIEFAM, has quickly been established and growth shows no sign of slowing - Glossy reported that between April 20-21 Beauty Pies revenue grew in the UK by +100% and it’s membership doubled.

Beauty subscriptions thrive even the luxury end of the market, without the need for traditional expensive beauty counters and consultants. Both Cohorted and Mintdbox offers the chance to receive edits from exclusive, high end brands like Sunday Riley and VERSO which may not be available on every high street.

Beauty Subscription Trends

With endless choices of beauty boxes now available, brands are increasingly diversifying to create points of difference and build customer appeal. So what are some of the secrets to success?

Collaborations

It’s hard to find a beauty boxes that doesn’t feature a collaboration now, with brands like Glossybox teaming up with partners like Grazia to add credibility to the curated edits. The hype around the Caroline Hirons beauty boxes (although not subscription) demonstrates that consumers value a well regarded industry expert to help select the very best products for them in crowded markets. This also helps to keep the offer fresh for longer term subscribers.

Personalisation

Subscription offers also give customers the opportunity to personalise their experience, whether its selecting boxes tailored to skin type, usage need (e.g. summer skin), vegan beauty or signing up to personalised formulation services like Skin + Me with bespoke skincare solutions sent to your door. US based Atolla tailor skincare routines using assessments and skin tests to create personalised skin solutions, which are continually assessed to maintain the progress of your skincare routine.

The beauty personalisation trend has been around for years, but was always difficult to execute in bricks-and-mortar retail space. Subscription models offer a convenient and cost effective solution to this without having to try and navigate what’s right for you when in stood in front of endless rows of products in store.

Supplements

Beauty supplements, seen with brands like Dewty, have also become increasingly popular through subscription models, encouraging healthy habits and routines by taking away the barriers of remembering to buy and take them. Supplements also work well for this sort of longer term model because consumers will need to take for a period of time before benefiting.

Male Grooming Boxes

The male market has welcomed the move towards subscription boxes to meet the consumer demand for straightforward, convenient replenishment for purchases like shaving, and its big business. Unilever bought The Dollar Shave club for $1 billion in 2016, and in 2019 (just 6 years after forming!) Harry’s shaving firm was bought by the owner of Wilkinson Sword for $1.4 billion. However, that’s not to say that male boxes are just focused on convenience, with brands like Toppbox offering a top to toe grooming experience.

So what’s next?

There are certainly no signs that the subscription boom is going to stall. Emarsys research found that in the US 32% of 16-24 year olds in the US have a subscription, and Royal Mails UK 2019 research found 52% of 25-34 year olds were signed up to a service. With younger generations embracing this model the long term prospects are bright. Businesses are also addressing barriers to subscriptions by making it easier to tailor your plans cost and cancellation options.

Even without the benefits of convenience and time, there is something pretty lovely about something arriving through your letterbox every month that isn’t just a bill.

THE BEAUTY BRAND COACH