Editor’s Note: e.l.f., the brand that began as a seller of $1 makeup products online, has evolved into a TikTok powerhouse and digital trailblazer in the beauty space. CM sister pub AdExchanger spoke with e.l.f. Chief Brand Officer Laurie Lam about the company’s ambitions to be a consumer destination—and not just a brand. Below is an excerpt of the piece; head over to AdExchanger for the full article.
AdExchanger: How do you make money when your average unit price is $6 and the product is manufactured and shipped around the world, processed in a warehouse and delivered to someone’s doorstep?
LAURIE LAM: It actually goes back to who we are as a company.
When we were founded in 2004, the founders started on the ecommerce model. They sold cosmetics over the internet for $1 – just to share with you how bat-shit bananas that is, not one company would ever do that now.
Our digital business is currently 19% of the overall sales.
But the most important thing is we never stopped bringing that community back. From when it was $1 premium cosmetics over the internet, that actually became the best focus group for e.l.f.
How do you keep those people coming back?
For one, we have 5 million members that are actively engaged on Beauty Squad [an influencer rewards and affiliate-style sales program]. They drive a disproportionate volume of sales to the site.
We also think about delivering rewards for loyalty. For example, we reward all purchases the same, whether it’s the DTC site, Amazon, Sephora, wherever. Customers can scan the receipt from anywhere. There are very few others that can say they do that, and it brings people back to the app and site.
In Piper Sandler’s list of Gen Z shopping destination sites, the list is big retailers and places you’d expect – Sephora, Ulta, YouTube, TikTok, etc. And then you see e.l.f. Cosmetics, out of nowhere.
Read the full article in AdExchanger.
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