Lessons from Walmart's Beauty Strategy: How Prestige is Winning at Mass Retail
Our Executive Chair, Ann Berry, joined CEW’s inaugural Newsmaker event in New York City on March 5. Starring Vinima Shekhar, VP Beauty at Walmart, in an in-depth conversation with Jill Scalamandre, CEO of Beekman 1802.
And what a way to start a new series! Kicked off by CEW President, Elana Drell Szyfer. Hundreds of beauty executives gathered to hear how Walmart uses “data, discovery and democratization” to make itself a destination where, as Elana put it, “prestige feels accessible, and mass anything but basic”.
Jacqueline Flam, Managing Director for Beauty & Health at NielsenIQ, framed the conversation with the broader retail numbers: 54% of beauty sales happen online and the challenger channel, TikTok, is now the #4 e-commerce beauty retailer in the US.
But Walmart is still the behemoth to be reckoned with 76% of beauty buyers in the US purchase from Walmart - whether in-store, on Walmart.com or from the company’s marketplace.
And beauty’s contribution to Walmart’s store performance is indisputable: stores with its Beauty Bar concept see 2x sales growth in the category. With emerging brands like Lattafa, Bare Originals and Monday as key drivers of success.
Ann’s favorite insights from Vinima?
On how Walmart defines success for its beauty brand partners: Whether small or large, do you have a strong value prop? Are you solving a problem or in love with your own idea? Are you activating your media in line with your operations? Success needs to come with the right operational rigor and successful brands think about growth from a platform perspective, not by channel.
On the merits of all channels: Marketplace gives you very quick demand signals, 1P provides more precision. Stores amplify presence but not all doors are needed at once. Mario Badescu launched as part of Walmart’s in-store premium program in just 250 stores - today it’s in 3,000.
On a launch to learn from: An exclusive-to-Walmart brand, Nude by Nature. Which offers “an accessible price point but looks so good” with elevated packaging, is clean (no longer a trend, but table stakes) and on point in the skinification of cosmetics.
On innovating in wellness: Walmart is bringing La Roche-Pose into stores in partnership with its pharmacies, launching - in partnership with L’Oreal - a derm-recommended destination.
Insights into digital expanded further as Liz Feeney - Industry Manager, Beauty at Walmart Connect - and Stephanie Pankuch - GM Consumables at Walmart Marketplace - joined Vinima on stage:
On Walmart Connect: More and more discovery is happening digitally, positioning this retail media offering to build niche audiences for beauty brands with precise targeting - as befits the personal nature of the category.
On AI’s contribution to Walmart sales: Half of Walmart.com users have utilized Sparky, the voice activated AI agent embedded in the site. And it leads to 30% to 35% bigger baskets.
From dynamic networking to nuggets of actionable advice, an evening of inspiration and impact!