Data is new face of ethnic cosmetics success

IRVING, Texas

“The days of running a business simply by reviewing shares and trends are over. So are the days of analyzing a category by filling out template-based category reviews. Those tactics have served their purpose and have been important in the past, but not anymore,” Joyner, president and chief executive officer of the J Joyner Group and senior executive and partner of its business partner TABS Group, told Drug Store News.

The key to running a successful ethnic beauty business in today’s competitive marketplace, according to Joyner: Data. In fact, he believes that with the right data and accompanying tools, and the intelligent use of such data, the average buyer and average salesperson can reclaim about 10 to 15 hours of their time each week.

“I believe the most compelling issue facing chain buyers and sellers is the lack of time. They are so busy with both internal and external pressures that they are forced to gloss over things because the next hottest fire is waiting for them,” Joyner said in a follow-up discussion after the AHBAI’s 2007 Ethnic HBC Mid-Year Buyers & Marketing Conference.

Armed with the right business analytics, manufacturers and the mass market retailers they serve undoubtedly have room for growth when it comes to meeting the beauty needs of today’s ethnic shopper.

It is estimated that ethnic cosmetic sales total about $70 million or roughly 2 percent of the cosmetic category. However, blacks and Hispanics account for more than 20 percent of the U.S. population.

Furthermore, Joyner said that an analysis of major drug and mass chains show that between 43 percent and 74 percent of their stores deserve some kind of ethnic cosmetic representation.

This is often because major chains have designated a portion of their stores as their “ethnic set”—which are often in lower-income, high ethnic concentration areas—and have taken the steps to merchandise those stores accordingly. However, in doing so, they may be neglecting their affluent ethnic consumers.

“This isn’t 1950 anymore. There are plenty of neighborhoods that have clusters of affluent Asian, Hispanic and black consumers who are not able to find the products that they need in their normal store that they go to in their neighborhood. So then they have to go across town to the ethnic store to get what they want,” Joyner said. “[In serving that consumer] they become more loyal to you and the ‘halo’ effect of that is they … buy more of the traditional products that you also carry.”