IL MAKIAGE Transforms Beauty E-Commerce With New Platform, Introducing An Entirely New Way To Shop Online
The first-ever influencer-based e-commerce platform launches today
NEW YORK, July 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- IL MAKIAGE, the digital-first prestige beauty brand, is ushering in the future of buying makeup online. Today, the company announced the launch of its new e-commerce platform and business model, providing beauty lovers with a highly differentiated and all-encompassing beauty experience - linking inspiration, education, trial and purchase within a singular site. To fix the current disconnected consumer journey, where they live online but try and purchase offline, IL MAKIAGE's in-house tech team spent two years engineering a seamless, automated process for beauty purchasing, solving one of the biggest problems plaguing the $532 billion beauty industry.
Despite extraordinarily engaging online content, primarily on social platforms, consumers still make more than 90% of beauty purchases offline, making beauty one of the most under-penetrated categories in e-commerce. Beauty shoppers are trapped in a decision paralysis - receiving inspiration from Instagram and education via YouTube tutorials, but overwhelmingly head to the store to try the makeup. Today, most beauty e-commerce sites are a stagnant tool mainly for replenishment purchases, lacking both engagement and creative content.
To address the current challenges beauty brands are facing in building their online business, IL MAKIAGE launched its PowerMatch algorithm earlier this year, leveraging machine learning to match consumers with one of 50 foundation shades with over 90% accuracy - without ever seeing their face. Over 2 million consumers have completed the PowerMatch quiz in the past seven months. The company's latest innovation launching today is intended to create a more compelling experience than consumers have previously had either in stores or online. IL MAKIAGE's innovative new platform combines curated beauty inspiration, content from hundreds of influencer partners that they create on their own portal called Kenzza, and a way to eliminate the risk of buying without touching the product in-store. Through a try-before-you-buy program, IL MAKIAGE is effectively bringing the physical store to the consumer.
"The entire industry knows that online beauty shopping serves mainly as a replenishment channel for most prestige brands. There is no doubt that the beauty consumer lives online, and yet, due to the current shopping deficiencies online, tries new products offline. IL MAKIAGE is on a mission to close the gap between online and offline by providing consumers with many of the same advantages physical stores are offering – a streamlined destination to gain inspiration, learn how to use the products to build a look, and try them risk free via our try-before-you-buy program, improving on a very scattered beauty journey," says Oran Holtzman, CEO of IL MAKIAGE. "To achieve our goals, we needed to have a TON of fresh, daily content. So instead of creating videos in-house, we generated a new business model via deep, mutually-beneficial influencer partnerships to showcase their beautiful, creative content. We believe the platform is the first-ever influencer-based e-commerce platform."
HOW IT WORKS: No more packaging photos that don't show how to use the product, what it does, what your shade is and what else you need to use to build a look. For the inspiration stage, consumers start with a familiar swipe left/right interface to choose looks they're interested in (machine learning adapts to each individual's 'liked' looks and recommends the most relevant next look). After selecting their favorites, they can learn how to achieve this transformation via a full video tutorial by that influencer. Because through e-commerce consumers cannot touch the product – IL MAKIAGE offers the option to choose up to four products to try at home, for free, before committing to purchase. Shoppers are also encouraged to comment, ask questions and interact with other consumers and influencers on the platform.
IL MAKIAGE is launching the site with hundreds of influencers and makeup artists (from micro to mega) to create unique looks exclusively for the Kenzza platform. All of our partners, our Maximalists, receive a substantial percentage of sales driven by their looks, which are always authentic to their own brand voice.
IL MAKIAGE's platform is revolutionizing the way consumers shop for beauty online. No one has solved the essential e-commerce issues in the beauty industry and IL MAKIAGE is the first to offer content and inspiration, trusted guidance from influencers and minimal consumer risk from online beauty purchases in one place. The new e-commerce platform is available at www.ilmakiage.com.
About IL MAKIAGE
IL MAKIAGE is the defiant, direct-to-consumer beauty brand that embraces an unapologetic, maximalist approach. Combining advanced technology capabilities with superior prestige beauty products, the company's extensive R&D team developed over 500 SKUs with uncompromising attention to detail. With their incredibly successful PowerMatch algorithm, their industry-changing e-commerce platform, and best-in-class products, IL MAKIAGE is redefining the online beauty industry. IL MAKIAGE was relaunched in the U.S. in June 2018 by brother-sister duo and entrepreneurs Oran Holtzman and Shiran Holtzman-Erel and is headquartered in SoHo, NYC.