In addition to TikTok, beauty executives at this week’s Glossy Beauty Summit in Palm Springs discussed the up-and-coming apps that their companies are experimenting with to reach the Gen-Z consumer.
Among those with promise, they said, is Slack-like group app Geneva. One attendee said her brand uses the app to host a Gen-Z focus group. Including Gen Zers in business decisions is a growing practice among beauty brands. In addition to asking the group to weigh in on product specifics, the exec said her company asks them to weigh in on pop culture trends and to share their tastes in a variety of categories.
“We like that [users] start talking on their own, in addition to answering product questions,” said the attendee.
Another big theme when it came to startup apps piquing attendees’ interests was livestream shopping. Executives discussed their companies’ experiences using apps such as Talkshoplive, Supergreat and Shop LIT Live.
“We’ve actually had more success with driving purchases on Shop LIT Live,” said one attendee, who noted that her company has used several livestream shopping apps. In addition, executives said their companies are experimenting with Instagram’s livestream shopping feature — though, unanimously, they said they’re still working to turn that engagement into sales conversions.
Ad position: web_incontent_pos1
One attendee said their Instagram Live shopping event “didn’t see much, in terms of purchases,” but had high engagement. Another echoed the sentiment, in regard to her company’s first Instagram livestream shopping event: “When we tried it, it got a ton of engagement. We didn’t see a huge amount of purchases, though. It was a test.”
TikTok-inspired beauty social commerce app Flip also had attendees’ attention. “With Flip, you really have to have purchased the product before you can give reviews. So we’ve seen a lot more interest and engagement with Flip, and conversion as well,” said one attendee. When it comes to what types of influencers are driving conversions, they added, “We’ve seen a wide range, in terms of demographics.”
Overall, brands are seeing promise with shopping-focused social apps. One attendee who had seen high sales on Flip, compared to other platforms, explained, “[Users] are going onto it with the mindset to purchase.”
