The New Beauty Era

The beauty industry is estimated to be about $49 Billion as of 2022. Part of its explosive growth in the past decade is largely thanks to digital innovation and social media. With the power of social media, viral products are now quick to sell out and beauty brands have more extensive reach than ever. However, there’s a new era of growth on the horizon, driven by the potential of metaverse technology to deliver immersive web experiences.

What is the Immersive Web?

The immersive web is the next stage of the internet, bringing together people, places, and activities from around the world through rich virtual experiences. Although it’s in a relatively early stage of development, the immersive web carries tremendous potential to transform the way we communicate, shop, and experience daily life.

Imagine the immersive web as consisting of virtual worlds or metaverses where people can do what they normally do (explore, shop, play games, communicate, etc) only through immersive online experiences. Beyond entertainment and communication, the immersive web is uniquely positioned to radically change the way people shop and interact with brands. View use cases

How the Beauty World Can Leverage Metaverse Technology Across the Value Chain

One clear area where the immersive web will impact buying behavior is through virtual try-ons. While these are currently at the forefront of well-known brands’ entrances into the immersive web - such as Clinique, YSL, L’Oreal, and more - the scope of virtual experiences spans across beauty’s entire value chain.

The result? Beauty brands can leverage this emerging technology to not only reach new markets and inspire brand loyalty, but also to become more sustainable and efficient from R&D to customer services.

Afterall, the beauty industry is so much more than stocked shelves at Sephora. Imagine a world in which R&D scientists can leverage virtual simulations to test product formulations and packaging while collaborating virtually with team members. In terms of manufacturing and production, beauty brands can leverage virtual manufacturing simulations and industrial metaverse to optimize production processes, prioritize sustainability, and ultimately save millions across the supply chain.

Needless to say, marketing opportunities in the immersive web are nearly endless. metaverse technology and the immersive web supports new ways to engage essential beauty influencers through virtual collaborations and campaigns. In fact, we predict a whole new era of “virtual influencers” entering the equation.

When it comes to sales and distribution, brands can get even more creative with virtual storefronts and try-on experiences. Finally, immersive web platforms will enable a seamless virtual customer service experience with personalized immersive experiences where customers can get support and give feedback.

Limitless Opportunities for Beauty Brands to Flourish in the Virtual World

Immersive virtual experiences are no longer a gamble or an offshoot of a current brand’s strategy. With the potential to create a virtual value chain, brands can take advantage of a whole scope of opportunities that can fundamentally reshape their business model and open up entirely new revenue streams in immersive commerce (iCommerce). Let’s take a look at some common opportunities:

• Sustainability: Digital products and value chains are game changers when it comes to reducing energy consumption and improving CO2 footprints.

• Next-Gen CRM: Compared to traditional websites, immersive experiences can help brands discover significantly more about their customers while easily adhering to privacy regulations.

• Innovation through Co-Creation: Now more than ever brands can connect with their customers and brand ambassadors in new and innovative ways by co-creating products alongside them.

• Increased Operational Efficiency: Leveraging virtual reality for processes help brands manage inventory, smart manufacturing, and addressing IP rights and control issues.

• Hyper Engagement: In the immersive web, brands no longer have to worry about passive relationships with their customers. The immersive world provides new ways to gamify brand activations and direct interaction between brand and customer.

Download our iCommerce ebook to learn more about how to leverage the impactful technology.

How are Beauty Brands Currently Leveraging the Immersive Web?

Luxury and drugstore beauty brands alike have already made successful entrances into the virtual world. Notably, in the second half of 2022, luxury beauty brand, Estée Lauder, participated in Metaverse Art Week, hosted by Decentraland.

At the event, the beauty brand provided visitors with POAP (or Proof of Attendance Protocol), a type of NFT that will garner access to upcoming Web3 virtual experiences. This campaign is brilliant in that it helps the brand do a soft launch into this virtual e-commerce space while garnering buzz for future initiatives.

At Journee, we believe in helping brands foster meaningful immersive experiences beyond the transaction by addressing the human need to explore, interact, and be surprised. We’ve worked with Clinique to launch an immersive online store featuring an immersive online store–the Clinique Virtual Lab. This serves as an all-immersive, multi-sensory gamified experience that combines education and entertainment.

The amazing thing about immersive online experiences is that for brands, the possibilities are endless. Brands are now in the driver’s seat to completely transform how the customer experiences their brands while reaching entirely new markets and opening new revenue streams.

How to Begin

Beauty brands have a world of opportunities when it comes to create new and meaningful brand experiences and omnichannel engagement through metaverse technology and the immersive web. To properly integrate this exciting technology into your current business model, we first recommend creating an immersive web or Web3 strategy.

This strategy should be comprehensive in nature and cover objectives, KPIs, and where along the value chain you will implement the technology. For example, is your goal to create a virtual showroom? Do you want to implement the ability for customers to design made-to-order pieces in an interactive, virtual store?

Once the strategy has been established, consider how you will execute your strategy. For example, JourneeX offers brands the ability to create branded, interactive experiences, build worlds, while unifying developer and management workflows.

Finally, consider working with an expert team or platform who can support you through the process. At Journee, we’ve worked with internationally known brands to create their own unique online experiences.

Get inspired by our immersive web solutions for beauty and cosmetics industry here

Summary

Metaverse technology and immersive virtual experiences are positioned to transform the beauty industry and how customers interact with brands. This potential extends far beyond novel and educating experiences.

Brands can leverage this technology to create more efficient, sustainable, and collaborative systems throughout their entire value chain. Plus, beauty brands can reach customers in new and meaningful ways, which will help them both expand their business and future-proof their operations.

To learn more about Journee, click here.