With revenue growing an average of 23% since its launch in March 2013, and enjoying 424% sales growth since January this year, it seems like the brand isn’t wrong – tapping into the consumer demand for products which emphasise ‘safety’ is proving lucrative.
Speaking at the recent NewCo LA event, the company’s head of marketing, Tracy Crane, said she reckons that the company has created "unparalleled transparency and safety in the personal care industry."
Transparency and trust
Beautycounter is pushing the idea of the brand’s transparency through such initiatives as the ‘Neverlist’ on its site – a reference guide of ingredients it deems to be potentially unsafe – and its direct selling model, which allows it to put “education first, product second”, the company claims.
The brand’s success, Crane suggests, is due to consumer trust in the brand and its products - "safety and performance efficacy are the two pillars of the company," she notes.
Indeed, other key industry players agree that trust is increasingly key. Lush’s MD of digital, Jack Constantine, recently told Cosmetics Design that the beauty consumer is no longer buying into “celebrity-endorsed pseudo-science”.
“I think transparency is going to be hugely important as over the coming years with the access we now have,’ Constantine observed, referring to the availability of information for the consumer via such platforms as the recent ‘Think Dirty’ app, which lists ingredients of individual cosmetics products.
Naturally safe
Organic Monitor recently released a study which determined that nearly two thirds of natural personal care product consumers in the UK specifically aim to avoid items containing parabens, for example.
The global market for natural cosmetics is tipped to reach €10.1bn by 2018, and brands are keen to court the rising numbers of safety-focussed consumers.
Cosmetics and personal care items which can make safe or ‘free from’ claims are growing in popularity, and recent sales hikes for brands with a ‘natural’ image such as Beautycounter confirm beauty brands are responding to and encouraging this trend.