MCoBeauty offers luxe-for-less cosmetics exclusively at Kroger
MCoBeauty is an Australian beauty company that has experienced success in the United States since launching with Kroger in the first quarter of 2024. Positioned as a luxe for less, cruelty-free brand, it was created by Shelley Sullivan, who spent 20 years in the worlds of fashion and beauty.
Greg Barker, senior vice president of North America at MCoBeauty, said, “Shelley began doing collaborations as well as product innovation of her own.” In 2016 Shelley created MCoBeauty, with a goal to provide luxurious beauty solutions for less. The company’s website says the full range of products are under $40.
Barker shared, “As recently as 5-6 years ago, MCoBeauty was an emerging brand on the Australian market, and now has become the number one brand in all retailers that carry the products. We’re still to this day the fastest-growing beauty brand in Australia.”
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The company’s top-selling products include the Super Glow Bronzing Drops, Xtendlash Mascara, and their array of foundations and lip oils. Duane Allen, vice president of commercial North America, at MCoBeauty, said the drops and mascara are also the number one and two items in Australia as well, stating, “Broadly speaking, we’re seeing similar performance here.”
“We got onto shelves in Kroger in March and we’re already their number six brand out of 20 and we don’t have distribution in all of their stores yet,” Barker commented. MCoBeauty is an exclusive partner with Kroger for twelve months and then will look to expand after that. The brand is in 1,000 Kroger stores. “We heavily value our retail partnerships. In Australia, when a retailer backs the MCoBeauty brand, we want to back that retailer, and that is how we’re approaching it here as well. We use all of our social media, all of our marketing weight to drive our audiences to our retailer channels, not to our own channels.”
Barker says that support of retailers carrying their brand is a big point of difference and rather than seeking to be carried by a wide assortment of retailers, the company will be looking for a focused set of strategic partners in the U.S. as they grow the brand.
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In terms of product differentiators, Barker says they are cruelty-free, certified vegan, and among few brands that offer quality products at their price point. He added that they want to surprise and delight consumers with packaging and the quality of products that customers would expect from a prestige beauty brand yet can find them at a mass retailer price point from MCoBeauty. He says another point of difference is that they can innovate quickly from concept to being on store shelves in six months or even less.
Emerging trends drive the company’s innovations, as well as looking to prestige beauty retail and media to see which trends can be formulated to fit into MCoBeauty’s business model. Like most beauty brands, the company looks to social media for customer feedback and also conducts pop-up events to get in-person feedback.
Barker stated that they are launching body fragrance mists next in the U.S. “Four scents hit the shelves in the U.S. in June and a fifth scent will be released soon,” Allen said.
MCoBeauty is owned by VidaCorp, the consumer arm of a large, privately-owned conglomerate in Australia, DBG Health. Barker said MCoBeauty is launching in Europe next year and some select markets in Asia. He also said MCoBeauty is the first of many brands they plan to bring to the U.S. market.
Megan Moyer is a 20-year retail industry veteran and HRG’s corporate marketing manager. HRG is in the details of retail, working with product manufacturers, distributors, retailers, technology partners, and other industry organizations to provide data & analysis, shopper experience, brand development, fixture coordination, and retail communications solutions. HRG reviews new health, beauty, and wellness (HBW) items every month and assesses their potential for longevity in the monthly Products to Watch feature in Drug Store News as well as the annual Future 50 list.
