Makeover of the Makeup Industry – Towards Digitalization of the Cosmetics Industry

Abstract

The economy of the 21st century is synonymously known as a Digital Economy. Economies if categorized on the basis of technology, they are divided in two, pre and post digital era: the Traditional versus Digital economies. This paradigm change in economies from a traditional to the digital economy has been possible due to the Advancements in the Digital Technologies. As the digital transformation swept across economies certain sectors were slow to adapt to the digitalization wave than the others. Some of the pioneer sectors to adopt this disruptive change known as digitalization were the ICT, Media, Finance, Pharmacy, Manufacturing sectors. Service sectors especially the customer-facing service industries such as Beauty, Health, Auto etc., which banked on personal face to face interactions to enhance the customer experience were the laggards in adopting the digital technologies in their interaction with customers. The Beauty sector especially jumped the bandwagon of digitalization tardily. This sector deals with a range of products such as - skincare, hair care, cosmetics, fragrances, appliances etc., also from the service aspect the industry offers services such as salons, and spas. Similar to the clothing retail industry the beauty industry has moved on from being a brick and mortar try and buy industry to a virtual try and buy industry. How has this transformation happened, what are the drivers that have forced on this change? The present paper examines the Digitalization of the Beauty Industry; it proposes to examine the phenomena called Digitalization from the perspectives of both the manufacturers and consumers.