Beauty contracts boost earnings of world's highest paid models, Aussie Millennials love loyalty programs, eBay retains crown as Australia's top shopping website, and subscription shave clubs are hot property.
Beauty contracts boost earnings of world's highest paid models
Gisele Bundchen tops the list of Forbes annual list of the world's highest paid models - again. The 36 year old Brazilian has made more money than any of her peers since 2002, and her earnings reached $US30.5 million last year. In the past, most of her moolah came from her own brand footwear line. But highly lucrative beauty, fragrance and haircare deals with Chanel, Pantene Pro-V and more and major sales of her skincare range have delivered huge paychecks.
The number two placegetter, fellow Brazilian Adriana Lima, is a long way behind with total earnings of $US10.5 million. She still pulls in big bucks from Victoria's Secret as the brand's longest-serving Angel, but a contract with Maybelline New York propelled her income to the highest level of her career.
Kendall Jenner's multi-million dollar deals with and pushed her to a joint number three ranking with $US10 million. Karlie Kloss earned the same hefty amount, thanks to an eye-watering number of 18 contracts, including one with L'Oréal.
The ubiquitous Gigi Hadid soared into joint fifth place, earning $US9 million from a swag of deals including Maybelline. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley also banked $US9 million from a range of beauty gigs, including her own brand make-up and fragrance ranges with Marks & Spencer.
Wondering about Cara Delevingne? The Brit beauty ranked number seven with earnings of $US8.5 million, as the "Cara Effect" boosted the bottom lines of Yves Saint Laurent and Rimmel London. That other major UK beauty "face", Kate Moss, is also still doing very nicely. She has been on the highest paid models list since 1999, the only survivor from the supermodels of the 90s, and earned $US5 million last year to reach the lucky number 13 spot.
Aussie Millennials love loyalty programs
Beauty Insider, Beauty Tribe and Sister Club from Sephora, David Jones and Priceline are on the money where Millennials are concerned. According to Directivity's fourth annual report on loyalty programs, 68 per cent of Australian Millennials believe brands and retailers should have loyalty programs. Adam Posner, CEO of Directivity says it's not enough to connect, they should also meet the expectations of the highly sought-after generation.
Loyalty programs need to reward Millennials for sharing on social media, writing reviews, completing surveys or gamification, advises Posner. "Millennials have a stronger desire for non-transactional methods of being rewarded such as travel and entertainment experiences, as well as being rewarded for interacting with the brand, not only transacting."
So what motivates consumers to sign up for a loyalty program? Convenience rules. But brands or stores they love or where they would shop anyway get first preference. Benefits and rewards that are worthwhile are also crucial.
Rates of defection remain constant - 23 per cent of consumers opted out of a loyalty program in 2015, in contrast to 22 percent a year eralier. According to Posner, a successful loyalty program is all about keeping it simple - easy to earn benefits, easy to redeem for rewards and easy to understand. The only beauty and personal care club among the top 10 rated by Australian consumers as "doing a good job" was the Priceline Sister Club.
eBay retains crown as Australia's top shopping website
The online shopping universe is a dynamic mix of online retailers, auctions, price-checkers and group buying websites. Australia's leading shopping site by a country mile is eBay, reports Roy Morgan Research, which attracted 7.8 million Australians in an average four weeks in the year to June 2016. Second placegetter was Amazon with less than half the visitors (3.8 million), followed by Kogan.com and Groupon in a tie at 1.3 million visitors each.
But the fastest-growing shopping-based site is OzBargain, which now boasts 948,000 monthly visitors - more than double the number it attracted in 2012. According to Michele Levine, CEO of Roy Morgan Research: "8.3 million Australians now buy something on the Internet in an average four weeks, a gain of 37 per cent or around 2.25 million shoppers since 2012. However, many shopping websites haven't seen visitation rise in line with the overall appetite for buying online. The two category killers eBay and Amazon have each increased their unique monthly audience over the period by around 5 per cent and 17 per cent respectively - both well shy of the 37 per cent growth in online shopping generally."
One of the main reasons, notes Levine, is that nearly half of Australians research products online, but then buy them offline. "Where once we thought about traditional retailers needing to learn from the online upstarts, the flat or declining visitation to many of these shopping websites suggests that these former "disruptors" could now learn a thing or two from their elder brethren about how to satisfy customers, how to advertise through a range of media, and how to entice new passers-by through the door - or to the website."
Subscription shave clubs are hot property
The global shaving market remained static for decades, dominated by Gillette with Schick in distant second place. To a large extent nothing has changed. Over the past three years, however, the arrival of fast-growing subscription start-ups such as the Dollar Shave Club has shaken up the status quo. Unilever sent a clear message to its fellow giant multinational, P&G, that competition could get much fiercer when it recently acquired the Dollar Shave Club.
Shave MOB, one of the Dollar Shave Club's major rivals in the US, has acquired another leading competitor in the booming US shaving subscription market - 800Razors - which makes men's and women's razors. The buyout price was undisclosed but the combined companies will have a much greater reach. 800Razors has invested millions in developing the brand and building strong relations with famous athletes, including super-Olympian Michael Phelps.
Snippets from the wires
- Over three million Australians wear smart devices on their wrists, says Nielsen. Nearly half (49 per cent) use their arm candy to check out new products and businesses online. Over 70 percent use apps at least weekly, notes the researcher, which shows a strong preference for relevant content.
- Fancy a cuppa? You've got plenty of company, says Roy Morgan Research. Close to half the population over the age of 14 - 9.8 million - enjoy a cup of tea at least once a week. More women than men are tea drinkers - 55 per cent vs 45 per cent. Age has a strong bearing. Fifty percent of people aged 35 to 49 enjoy a good brew regularly, increasing to 59 per cent for those aged 50 to 64 and 64 percent for the over-60s. Younger age groups have high consumption rates, too, and the habit starts early. Twenty five per cent of teens aged between 14 to 17 reach for a teabag or pot, increasing to 34 percent of people aged 18 to 24 and 42 percent for people aged 25 to 34.
- Iconic British department store, Harrods, is rumoured to be looking for a suitable location for a new outpost in Florence. The luxury retailer, owned by Qatar Holdings, currently has outlets in 11 European and Asian airports.
- Natural toothpastes have been around for some time, but there's still a lot of room for growth. Dr Hauschka has launched a four product oral care ranged called Med. Formulated from certified natural extracts, they are fluoride and sodium laurel sulfate-free.
- Prestige beauty is enjoying huge growth in the UK. John Lewis, the premium British department store, has announced it will invest $AUD15.8 million in revamping its beauty halls. The retailer's beauty sales have risen by over 30 per cent in the past few years, and new brands poised to hang out their shingles include Urban Decay, , and .
