Sunday, May 13, 2012
beauty-care industry , a predominantly a woman's domain ?
FMCG business is predominanatly woman's
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2759
(with a greater range of choices for consumers and lower barriers to entry for companies, Estée Lauder has remained committed to selling in upscale department stores. Stylists behind the makeup counter add value to purchases by offering personalized advice to the customers. )
[But in the case of beauty products,] consumers still want to see it, touch it, feel it, smell it. Technology does not allow that to be replaced, so she's still willing to go to a store. The other thing is the notion of what shopping is about -- that's a behavioral pattern that hasn't really changed. It's still as much about entertainment as it is about an act of consumption. Many people can entertain themselves happily at home with different electronic gadgets. But many still want to get out and about and be in a social environment. They still like to shop in an environment like that. And then you add the interaction with an expert with whom they can talk. That behavior has only evolved a little bit, not a lot. We in the cosmetics business, for example, thrive on the fact that so many of our consumers, once they find the product that they love and they like, want to come back and buy it again and again.
[Customers] want something new, but they also want the products that they like not to change, so they can use them again and again. The number one consumer feedback we get is "Bring [a certain item] back" when we've discontinued a product....
Problems in Family owned business : Many of the challenges of a family owned business are the same no matter what kind of business you're in. You have family members who may have certain emotional opinions and biases, which may or may not be best based on rational thought. Sometimes those emotions are legitimate, and sometimes perhaps they're based on ideas that did work at one point but perhaps are not as relevant today. In other words, [older family members might say,] "When I was your age, I did this or that." The ability to say, "Gee, you know, I'm not so certain that might work right now," isn't so easy. That is the other side of what I talked about before, which was that we are very innovative and we have innovation as a part of what we do. But occasionally there are stakeholders who perhaps have the same last name as I do, who have a stake in the way it was, not necessarily the way it will be. It takes extra convincing for them to get there. That's one of the issues.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2759
(with a greater range of choices for consumers and lower barriers to entry for companies, Estée Lauder has remained committed to selling in upscale department stores. Stylists behind the makeup counter add value to purchases by offering personalized advice to the customers. )
[But in the case of beauty products,] consumers still want to see it, touch it, feel it, smell it. Technology does not allow that to be replaced, so she's still willing to go to a store. The other thing is the notion of what shopping is about -- that's a behavioral pattern that hasn't really changed. It's still as much about entertainment as it is about an act of consumption. Many people can entertain themselves happily at home with different electronic gadgets. But many still want to get out and about and be in a social environment. They still like to shop in an environment like that. And then you add the interaction with an expert with whom they can talk. That behavior has only evolved a little bit, not a lot. We in the cosmetics business, for example, thrive on the fact that so many of our consumers, once they find the product that they love and they like, want to come back and buy it again and again.
[Customers] want something new, but they also want the products that they like not to change, so they can use them again and again. The number one consumer feedback we get is "Bring [a certain item] back" when we've discontinued a product....
Problems in Family owned business : Many of the challenges of a family owned business are the same no matter what kind of business you're in. You have family members who may have certain emotional opinions and biases, which may or may not be best based on rational thought. Sometimes those emotions are legitimate, and sometimes perhaps they're based on ideas that did work at one point but perhaps are not as relevant today. In other words, [older family members might say,] "When I was your age, I did this or that." The ability to say, "Gee, you know, I'm not so certain that might work right now," isn't so easy. That is the other side of what I talked about before, which was that we are very innovative and we have innovation as a part of what we do. But occasionally there are stakeholders who perhaps have the same last name as I do, who have a stake in the way it was, not necessarily the way it will be. It takes extra convincing for them to get there. That's one of the issues.
Labels: Knowledge at Wharton
