On the heels of its reported $500 million acquisition of BoxyCharm, subscription box Ipsy is expanding its private-label business through the debut of Refreshments personal care.
On Tuesday, Ipsy launched Refreshments in a beta program to 56,000 Ipsy subscribers — through an email — out of its 3 million-plus member base. The intent behind the soft launch is to gather information related to early perception and sales prior to a broader launch in January. Refreshments launches with six products including makeup wipes, a razor and a body wash. Ipsy members get access to exclusive member pricing which ranges from $5-$9, while non-members will pay between $7-$11. Ipsy subscribers can purchase Refreshments as a subscription through Ipsy.com, while non-members can purchase à la carte Refreshments products through Refreshments.com beginning in December.
According to Sabeen Mian, Refreshments svp, the traditional body care category is perfunctory and monotonous, despite the many hours people dedicate to it every week. Therefore, Refreshments is attempting to make personal care more enjoyable through its clean ingredients, fun packaging and branding.
“We have seen the level of interest in personal care climb, as customers are not interested in going into stores because of Covid-19. They’re also more focused on self-care and pampering,” said Mian.
Refreshments’ debut comes when there are notable shifts taking place across the beauty industry. Recent and significant is Ipsy’s acquisition of its competitor BoxyCharm, forming a new enterprise called BFA Industries (short for Beauty For All). Together, the brands boast 4.3 million subscribers and earned $1 billion in revenue for 2020.
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According to Bloomberg, BFA Industries could go public in the next 18 months. Additionally, the skin-care category continues to grow and rebound faster than its makeup counterpart, and body care is leading that sales recovery. According to NPD Group’s latest data, body product sales, including cleansers, creams/lotions and exfoliators, increased by 17% in the third quarter.
Marcelo Camberos, Ipsy CEO, classified Refreshments as a huge sales driver opportunity. Ipsy previously launched brush brand Complex Culture, as well as Item Beauty with TikTok star Addison Rae, through its sister-company MadeBy Collective.
“We will have more brands from MadeBy Collective, and we are going to be doing additional innovative things, but we probably won’t launch a major new program until we can kind of integrate [these businesses], including Refreshments. That’s going to be the focus of the next 6-9 months,” Camberos said.
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Refreshments customers will be able to customize their Refreshments membership and cadence of individual product renewals starting in December, once they receive their initial starter kits. Camberos said that offering subscribers more control allowed the company to prevent trips to other retailers. Marketing and advertising for Refreshments are slated to begin in January after its wider launch. Mian said there will be plans to craft an omnichannel strategy for the brand and highlight its BFAI relationship, but they are still in the works. New products will be added on an almost monthly basis in 2021, she added.
Priya Rao, Glossy’s executive editor, contributed to the reporting of this story.
