CVS Piloting Skin Care Centers, The Latest Prestige Cosmetics Shop-In-Shop Experiment
Executive Summary
CVS is trialing Skin Care Centers in three strategic locations, building on its BeautyIRL concept launched in 2018. Featuring prestige brands and L’Oréal-trained beauty advisors, CVS Skin Care Centers follows Walmart’s launch of BEAUTYSPACE installations in March and moves from Kohl’s and Target mid-pandemic to wow shoppers with curated prestige beauty assortments.
CVS Pharmacy Inc. is piloting CVS Skin Care Centers in three locations – New York, NY, Woodland Hills, CA, and Walnut Creek, CA – the latest example of a mass market retailer leveraging prestige cosmetics to attract new, younger customers and meet one-stop shopping demand.
“If there’s one thing we’ve learned about retail from the COVID pandemic, it’s that consumers want to shop prestige beauty in convenient retail locations where they already shop,” says Patricia Santos, founder of Sausalito, CA-based Volition Beauty, which is making its mass market debut through the CVS program.
CVS Skin Care Centers also feature L’Oréal SA’s Cerave, La Roche-Posay and Vichy dermocosmetic brands. L’Oréal experts have provided skin care diagnostics training to CVS beauty consultants who work around the shops, CVS says.
The initiative builds on the pharmacy chain’s BeautyIRL (In Real Life) shop-within-shop format with mini beauty services, which launched in 2018 in collaboration with tech-driven beauty services company GlamSquad. The new Skin Care Centers will feature prestige brands and provide shoppers navigating personal skin health solutions – in high demand since the pandemic struck – with an “elevated” experience.
Other newcomers to CVS include the namesake brand from Port Washington, NY-based Wander Beauty LLC, and Blume, owned by the Vancouver, B.C.-based company of the same name.
CVS Skin Care Centers also will offer on-site skin diagnostic tools to help consumers customize their skin solutions. Highlights include LED technology and a skin analyzer from ModiFace, Inc. (Also see "Dinosaur Among The Unicorns: L'Oreal Talks Beauty Tech Innovation At VivaTech 2022" - HBW Insight, 29 Jun, 2022.)
The mass retailer promises ingredient-based solutions for concerns about skin elasticity, puffiness and acne scarring, plus products that address the unique concerns of melanin-rich skin, and dietary supplements for skin health along with inside-out beauty education, according to the release.
“We have a proven ability to influence the industry and we’ll continue to expand that impact through customized experiences and purpose-led commitments that inspire trust, discovery, self-expression and confidence in our customers,” CVS Health VP of merchandising, beauty and personal care Andrea Harrison notes in the release.
Separately, CVS announced a pilot program in 600 CVS Beauty Service Stores with Helsinki-based tech company Revieve Inc. to offer skin diagnostic and virtual try-on experiences for makeup. CVS Beauty Service Stores feature specialized beauty sales consultants, according to the firm.
Revieve also has helped build personalized digital brand experiences for Unilever PLC, Rodan & Fields, LLC, and Shiseido Company Ltd. (Also see "Unilever’s Living Proof To Provide First Look At Revieve AI Haircare Advisor" - HBW Insight, 16 Mar, 2022.)
“The digital experience will replace the existing physical tester program as one of the many resources CVS provides its consumers to make confident, informed purchasing decisions,” CVS says.
The walmart, Space NK Partnership realized
In March, Walmart Inc. and British retailer Space NK partnered to launch BEAUTYSPACE installations featuring more than 600 products from 15 “high-quality” brands in nearly 250 Walmart doors across the US.
“Walmart is moving faster than ever to make beauty more accessible to everyone,” the big-box retailer said in its 7 March announcement. “Space NK joins a growing list of collaborations and brand launches to bring new and trendy beauty products to Walmart shoppers at the affordable prices they come to expect.”
Walmart’s BEAUTYSPACE is sorted under four pillars – skin care, makeup, hair care, and bath and body – and further categorized as luxe, indie, award-winning, plant-powered, and other designations. Starring brands include By Terry, Philip B, Mario Badescu and Allies of Skin, as well as Summer Camp sun care, a recently announced addition. (Also see "Shiseido Skin Care For Gen-Z Men; e.l.f. Cosmetics For Gamers; Summer Beauty Launches In Brief" - HBW Insight, 10 Jul, 2022.)
The COVID-19 pandemic’s dramatic impacts on retail and consumer shopping preferences were evident in late 2020 when Target Corporation and Kohl’s Corporation both announced partnerships to bring in curated brand assortments from Ulta Beauty, Inc. and Sephora, respectively.
Sephora at Kohl’s, a 2,500 square foot “fully immersive” beauty experience featuring “some of the most relevant and exciting brands in the industry” in the way of makeup, skin, hair and fragrance, launched in 200 Kohl’s doors last year and is aimed at 400 more this year. (Also see "Sephora At Kohl’s Lineup Released: ‘Some Of The Most Relevant And Exciting Brands In The Industry’" - HBW Insight, 27 Apr, 2021.)
Last year, Target opened 1,000-square-foot Ulta Beauty sections in 100 locations around the US, with plans for 250 additional doors in 2022 showcasing more than 50 prestige and emerging beauty brands. (Also see "Ulta Beauty Will Have New CEO, Target Store Presence In Climb Back To 2019 Top Line" - HBW Insight, 16 Mar, 2021.)
Target said in March that the initiative has expanded its customer base, helping to fuel the mega-retailer's comparable sales growth of almost 38% in fiscal year 2021 to $8.68bn. (Also see "Ulta Beauty Achieves 38% Sales Growth In 2021, Predicts 'Normalized' 2022" - HBW Insight, 15 Mar, 2022.)