Technology revamps beauty shelf

Beauty is increasingly extending beyond the shelf thanks to greater interactivity between the virtual and beauty worlds. 


Mintel Beauty & Personal Care recently announced that a key trend to impact global beauty consumers in 2012 is “Kinetique,” and part of that trend is point-of-sale retail and packaging elements. Examples of sound, video and QR codes embedded in beauty packaging have already started to appear. For example, Urban Decay’s Book of Shadows Volume IV has a USB port built into the palette so she can download makeup tutorials and listen to music while getting ready.


Another example is Glamour magazine, which set up in New York City during Fashion Week a temporary, shoppable wall stocked with beauty products. Leveraging SpyderLynk’s Snap-to-Buy technology, beauty mavens scanned 2-D bar codes with an app on their smartphone to instantly buy the product for home delivery.