The Detox Market is leaning into OG clean beauty brands this year as it prioritizes brand building over newness.
The clean beauty retailer is running a GOAT (greatest of all time) campaign highlighting bestselling brands that pioneered the clean beauty category, including Vintner’s Daughter, OSEA, Odacité, True Botanicals, One Love Organics, Innersense Organic Beauty, Ilia, RMS Beauty and Indie Lee. Brands determined by The Detox Market to be GOATs in the making like TOK Beauty and Kimiko are included, too.
The campaign kicked off last month and will conclude at the end of March. It’s showcased prominently on The Detox Market’s website and social media accounts and in its email communications. Additional campaigns promoting OG clean beauty brands will follow throughout the year.
The Detox Market’s focus on what it characterizes as legacy brands comes after it didn’t add any new skincare brands to its assortment last year. Representing half of its sales, skincare is the retailer’s largest category, and makeup is its second-largest category. Elena Severin, senior director of merchandising at The Detox Market, explains that skincare simply became too saturated to continue to expand at the retailer.
The retailer also reduced the number of stockkeeping units in its six brick-and-mortar stores across New York, Southern California and Toronto by 30% during the fourth quarter last year. Select SKUs were moved online, but others got nixed altogether. SKU reduction came in part from discontinued products and the closures of brands such as Athr Beauty and Lady Suite. The Detox Market currently stocks over 180 beauty and wellness brands.
“It wasn’t necessarily a major brand cull,” says Severin. “It was more of going back to where we started, with highly curated assortments within the brands we carry. It got a little bit big, especially at the store level. We never reduce SKUs with a hammer, it’s done with a scalpel.”
Retail buyers are increasingly scaling back on newness as they rely on anchor brands with proven track records. Net-a-Porter recently slashed its beauty assortment by more than 50%. Last year, Credo reduced its third-party assortment by about 23%.
“There were a lot of new brands launched since 2020, and I think retailers got swept up by the FOMO of not launching everything and missing the next ‘viral’ sensation,” says Severin. “I can only speak to why we slowed down a little on adding newness, and it stems from our commitment to building brands for the long haul and not adding just to add for newness’s sake. The tried-and-true brands didn’t become heroes overnight, it took some of them years.”
The Detox Market isn’t completely shutting itself off from newness this year, particularly in the makeup category. Sweed Beauty, a Swedish lash and makeup brand, is making its American retail debut online and in stores at the retailer in March. The Detox Market is considering onboarding another makeup brand later this year. According to Severin, new brands are typically launched in the retailer’s stores along with its site. The Detox Market’s e-commerce platform is responsible for the majority of its sales.
“Color really just gets people excited to come into stores,” says Severin. “We’re really excited for Sweed. They’ve got highly pigmented eyeliners, but it’s all about sheer washes of color. Everything is very ethereal. It’s a little more luxurious, and it looks pretty on a nightstand.”
Madame Gabriela and MOB Beauty entered The Detox Market’s makeup assortment last year. Severin lauds MOB Beauty for energizing its color offering. Launched in 2021 by MAC Cosmetics former chief chemist and managing director Victor Casale, the makeup brand has customizable products housed in refillable and recyclable primary packaging and compostable secondary packaging. The Detox Market carries its eyeshadows, blushes, bronzers, highlighters, foundations, lipsticks, lip balms, cake eyeliners, mascaras and refillable palettes.
“It’s very old school, but brought into the 21st century,” says Severin. “They’re pigmented. They’re fun. They’re playful, but they really walk the walk in terms of sustainability.”
Emerging brands Luna Nectar and DedCool have been driving growth at The Detox Market in the haircare and fragrance categories, respectively. Severin says DedCool’s launch last year at the retailer boosted its fragrance sales by 41% year-over-year.
The Detox Market will gradually be injecting brand newness into its skincare lineup this year. Severin emphasizes brands selected for the assortment must be effective and highly differentiated. Aramore, an anti-aging skincare and wellness brand rooted in longevity science, will arrive at The Detox Market in the second half of the year. The brand’s topical products, including sunscreen, lotion, cream and serum, will land at the retailer initially and supplements will roll out subsequently.
“We’re betting big on Aramore. I’ve been using it for several months now, and I do see a difference in my skin,” says Severin. “We’ll be focusing a lot on longevity and internal wellness in our storytelling throughout the rest of the year.”
Sales of ingestible products dipped in 2022 at The Detox Market, but they’ve sprung back to life. Hum Nutrition, Moon Juice and Tease are leading the ingestible brand pack. Interest in sexual wellness, mental wellness and sleep wellness products are trending up. The retailer generally sells one vibrator a day at minimum, specifically Maude’s Vibe.
“Wellness is at the core of what we do,” says Severin. “It goes back to education. Our Detox ambassadors at the store level are incredible. One of our store managers just left to get their masters in Chinese medicine. Our team is made up of makeup artists and estheticians. We really have the whole package as far as wellness.”
To boost loyalty and brick-and-mortar traffic, The Detox Market aims to expand beauty services this year. Makeup services are available at all of its six stores, and the Summerhill location in Toronto offers private facials. Facial acupuncture services will be introduced at Summerhill this month. The retailer is in discussions to introduce facials, brow services and mini beauty treatments as Severin refers to them at more locations in its fleet.
The Detox Market reports its sales have been growing steadily on an annual basis. The retailer has no immediate plans to enlarge its store network, but Severin says it’s constantly weighing its options on the matter. Its main competitor Credo is comparatively bullish on spreading stores. It has 16 units across California, Colorado, Illinois, Texas, Massachusetts and New York and is scheduled to open four locations this year.
Severin is optimistic about the resilience of the beauty industry in 2024. “While there may be a lot of noise in the space, the ability to connect with the customer whether it’s via a high-touch event in stores, beautifully shot PDP images featured online, or a fast and fun livestream on TikTok is boundless,” she says. “Brands have been upping the ante on innovative and effective formulations, too. Color has been back for several years now, but the playfulness is finally back, and I think this is carrying over into other categories.”
