Adorn Cosmetics gives its e-commerce experience a makeover with Adobe Commerce
Like many consumers today, Briony Kennedy wants to know the ingredients in the products that she buys. Thirteen years ago, she spotted an opportunity to build a business around the very kind of beauty products she wanted for herself: luxury, ethically conscious cosmetics that are transparent about their origins and avoid harming people, animals, and the environment. Today, with its recyclable and refillable packaging, Australia-based Adorn Cosmetics uses up to 90 percent less plastic for packaging its array of certified vegan and cruelty-free formulations for the face and body, all made with organic and sustainable ingredients.
As a new mother of twins in 2009, Kennedy launched Adorn Cosmetics with an in-person, consultative approach. She built rapport and won customers with educational demonstrations and by sharing small product samples. With limited retail store opportunities due to Adorn Cosmetics’ aversion to wasteful exterior packaging expected by that channel, Kennedy instead looked to scale the business via direct-to-consumer sales through e-commerce.
Adorn Cosmetics’ focus on high-quality products and customer service gave it a competitive edge against multi-billion-dollar brands. The number of shoppers on its first e-commerce site, supported by an open-source version of Magento Commerce, grew quickly. Now, the company is taking the next steps toward providing “Adorners” with even more enhanced online shopping experiences by moving its e-commerce environment fully to Adobe Commerce.
Developing a luxury brand experience
With visual and tactile experiences so inherently important to marketing cosmetics products, Adorn Cosmetics sought to upgrade its website to help customers explore products and make purchases more intuitively. Providing the next level of customer service that luxury buyers expect starts with faster page load times enabled by Adobe Commerce, which will allow shoppers to skim through products and fill their carts effortlessly. “When customers can more quickly view and learn about our products, it makes it easier for them to buy more,” says Kennedy. “Ultimately, converting browsers to buyers more efficiently can have a huge impact on our sales.”
The new Adorn Cosmetics website will employ Adobe Commerce capabilities for better searching, such as for ingredients and accreditations, leveraging the large volume of product origin details the company publishes to increase transparency and educate consumers. Tutorial and podcast content will also gain improved searchability, enhancing the customer journey.
The company is looking forward to using Adobe Commerce Reporting to automatically personalise merchandise recommendations for each customer in real-time. “If a customer just added a mascara to their cart, then they may want to consider the lash primer which accompanies it,” says Kennedy. “We are really excited about possibilities to optimise our merchandising with automation and artificial intelligence in Adobe Commerce.”
The Adobe Commerce dashboard and reporting capabilities will provide unified views to key performance indicators, streamlining time-consuming work that previously involved four different software packages. This integrated data will help the company more easily create campaigns for its nearly 75,000 Facebook and 20,000 Instagram followers, in addition to marketing to its email database. “Simpler, holistic data analytics will save my team a great deal of time and effort,” Kennedy says. “Analytics that better inform our social media and email campaigns are paramount for achieving better ROI.”
The company will be able to leverage website behaviour information to recommend products across other media vehicles and tailor experiences beyond purchase calls to action. For example, customers that buy makeup applicators can be sent helpful reminders when it’s time to clean their brushes, gently fostering their relationship with the Adorn Cosmetics brand.
Integrations allow flexibility as business evolves
Adorn Cosmetics’ marketing team is particularly enthusiastic about developing a more robust loyalty program with Adobe Commerce. Replacing a limited plug-in that only allowed a simple spend-reward system, the new solution will offer customer loyalty expansion opportunities in a more integrated way. Soon the re-imagined Adorner Rewards program will provide incentives for customer engagement actions such as providing referrals, submitting reviews and feedback, or returning packaging for recycling or refilling.
Adobe Commerce will also connect more seamlessly with Adorn Cosmetics’ inventory system, ensuring the website has up-to-date stock information. When it comes to the rare event of a product return, Adobe Commerce helps automate the process, eliminating a manual approach of sending emails back and forth with the customer.
Integration of live chat on the site will further support an enjoyable experience for customers. “We’re a luxury brand that’s warm and engaging,” says Kennedy. “We know that when people feel that they’re valued, you get warmth in return. We really want to make sure the customer feels value in regularly engaging with our brand.”
Security is also an important consideration for any e-commerce business. The assurance of Adobe Commerce security certifications, including PCI compliance, are welcome features for Kennedy and her team. Integrated payment gateways included in Adobe Commerce will allow Adorn Cosmetics to securely transmit credit card data while avoiding the need to store sensitive information, providing customers with a smooth, more protected checkout experience. Additional tools like security scanning will help Adorn Cosmetics monitor its website and receive updates about security risks, malware, and unauthorised access.
“Upgrading to Adobe Commerce will free us to get on with creating great products, a beautiful brand, and focus on how we can be better as a company,” says Kennedy.