There’s proof that the efforts of Wal-Mart’s vice president and divisional merchandise manager of beauty and personal care Carmen Bauza are working: Women who used to hide their heads if caught in the retailer’s beauty aisles are now proudly showing their faces. It used to be only Target was considered cool for mass market beauty. Now Wal-Mart can claim that title, too.
Seventy-one percent of women shop for beauty and personal care items at Wal-Mart every week, according to the 2010 Pink Report Women & Wal-Mart Seeing Through the Eyes of the Beauty and Personal Care Consumer published by The Benchmarking Company. The report focuses on how Wal-Mart affects the beauty industry and why and how women shop for beauty and personal care products.
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The best news for Wal-Mart executives — and perhaps bad news for competitors — is women have changed their view on Wal-Mart. Before, women wouldn’t admit they shopped at Wal-Mart; now they aren’t afraid to tout it.
“Women & Wal-Mart was so important to us because when 200 million people do something each week, it’s critical that we understand what and why. Whether your brand is at Wal-Mart or not, what is happening there and how consumers are spending their time and dollars inside the store is vital to the entire beauty and personal care industry,” said The Benchmarking Company founder and creative director Alisa Maria Beyer. “My goal with this report was to give folks on Madison Avenue an intimate look at Main Street USA to see what’s really going on. It’s easy to become out of touch with the real beauty consumer.”
In fact, this reporter was amazed years ago to find few New York marketing executives had ever been in a Wal-Mart. Getting to a Wal-Mart doesn’t require trekking to Bentonville, Ark., as the chain has stores surrounding the metro area. Reports like this one will surely encourage more field trips to Wal-Mart. Shoppers certainly are hitting the nation’s largest retailer. In fact, women in this report were said to view Wal-Mart as their top destination for beauty and personal care purchases. The study found 67 percent of those queried said Wal-Mart offers premium brands at good prices, suggesting they don’t feel they are sacrificing quality by buying at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart executives know more and more companies will be looking at its beauty assortment. That’s one reason why the North Bergen, N.J., store was selected as the home to its fresh beauty thinking. The store is only a short ride away for New York executives, who want to see what the chain is up to in the beauty arena. And heck, there’s a Five Guys nearby for lunch. Visiting Wal-Mart and delving into the findings of The Benchmarking Company research could be worth the effort.
People, Place and Things
A few words with Carmen Bauza, Wal-Mart vice president and divisional merchandise manager for beauty and personal care. Bauza will certainly be smiling when she hears what Benchmarking Company found out about women and Wal-Mart. Recently, Bauza shared her vision of stepping up the look at Wal-Mart with WWD’s BeautyBiz magazine.
Bauza: Consumers have given us, as an industry, a second chance, but they are expecting a lot more. [In the past] we’ve met those expectations. Now, we want to exceed them. We’ve got to change and we’ve got to change faster. We need to be agile. Merchandising is storytelling. I start by putting together what I envision in the store, and then I put the numbers to it. Numbers speak the truth. It’s a mix of art and science. We have to shake it up.
What’s In Store
Wal-Mart Thinks Smaller: Wal-Mart is tinkering with smaller stores and one format is the Neighborhood Marketplace. This format combines food and drug components and a drive-through pharmacy. The design could certainly challenge drug chains in competitive markets.
Target Takes Manhattan: Target will have a grand opening for its first store in Manhattan, a unit that will open July 25 in East Harlem. Target said the store would feature more space devoted to fresh food, everyday essentials and home basics geared for apartment living. Target has about a half-dozen stores in New York, located in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens.