Things are looking bright for beauty at Nordstrom Inc.
The department store is doubling down on the category ahead of holiday with an influx of new brands and exclusive launches, as well as more promotional activity in both Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack.
For the quarter ending July 29, net sales at the retailer dipped 8.3 percent, as reported. Beauty, however, posted single-digit increases and was named a bestselling category.
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“Beauty consistently has had a solid performance for Nordstrom,” said Debbi Hartley-Triesch, executive vice president and general merchandising manager, beauty and accessories, Nordstrom. “We know it’s a top trip driver overall for us. We know the beauty customer is loyal, they spend more with us and we’re always looking for new ways to engage with and thank them.”
Promotion is playing a role in rewarding that category loyalty. Through the end of the year, the retailer’s popular loyalty program, Nordy Club, is giving customers five times points on all beauty purchases.
Meanwhile, at Nordstrom Rack, the company is betting on heightening interest in hair. Space NK is debuting hair shops in 200 doors alongside brands like R+Co, Philip B. and Christophe Robin. As a category, hair is the main focus. “Hair is a hot category at Nordstrom Rack, so we’re looking for new brands regularly,” Hartley-Triesch said.
The thought process is to deliver top brands from Nordstrom’s assortment, like Kate Somerville, MAC Cosmetics, Too Faced, Shiseido, Dry Bar and Clinique, among others, in more convenient locations.
Those brands join the likes of Neutrogena and Burt’s Bees, as well as what Hartley-Triesch called “best-of treasure hunting.”
At Nordstrom proper, Hartley-Triesch is still keen on a high-low mix across its brand matrix, highlighting recent discoveries as well as heritage beauty brands.
“We work on curating the best selection and that selection is through prestige, as well as emerging brands. It’s all price points: we want to be a leader in beauty, we want to inspire through our luxury designer brands like Tom Ford and Dior, and we also look at some emerging brands we’ve been able to launch like Westman Atelier, as well as emerging technologies and tools,” Hartley-Triesch said.
Heading into holiday, fragrance is a top priority. “There’s a lot happening, especially with fragrance,” Hartley-Triesch said.
Byredo and Maison Francis Kurkdjian are both expanding within Nordstrom, in addition to Sunday Riley and The Ordinary. The company is also launching Shark in all doors — it’s one of the top-searched items on nordstrom.com — and the biotech-fueled fragrance brand Future Society in 20 doors. Grande Cosmetics is launching online.
Exclusives play an important role in the mix. Recent ones include Westman Atelier Skin Activator Rollerball, Tory Burch Essence of Dreams Layering Oils, Clarins Precious Le Serum and Rich Cream and the Kylie Skin Vanilla Bath collection.
“We work with some of our best brand partners for exclusive launches so the customer has something unique,” Hartley-Triesch said.
The Beauty Rituals space, which has iterations both physically and digitally, is Hartley-Triesch’s testing ground for new brands and brand types. It’s also where the retailer first debuted Augustinus Bader and Westman Atelier, and has introduced trends from brands marketed as “clean” or sustainably minded, as well as clinical skin care.
“When we launch brands, [the strategy] looks and feels different brand by brand, but the overall recipe is to be able to test online and in-store. In-store is going to be a partnership with the brand and what makes sense for them,” Hartley-Triesch said. “We want to bring the brand story to life, and that’s what we think of when launching a brand. It’s online, it’s in-store, and it’s that storytelling that connects back to the brand DNA through creative marketing, through social and through events.”
Hartley-Triesch also sees room for opportunity in paid services, such as those in its New York flagship that have ranged from injectables to facial and body services. “Twenty years ago, when we launched Anastasia Beverly Hills in our stores, we launched with brow boutiques and leveraged this in-store, paid service where you can get your brows shaped and waxed. There’s an opportunity there,” she said, noting that some partnerships are in the works. “We want to be that one-stop shopping destination.”
Hartley-Triesch is also creating a greater dialogue between the physical and digital channels as a response to consumer behaviors. The Nordstrom beauty shopper is largely back in-store. “The customer is regulating itself on how that shopping journey looks,” she said. “We’re continuing to lean in on our digital channel, making sure that we can connect that to our business, our physical footprint and make sure that service then connects.”
In true Nordstrom fashion, service is the critical piece. Nordstrom recently introduced a tool for beauty stylists to connect with digital shoppers, who can then pick up products in-store. “The customer wants to shop digitally as well as in-store, and how we combine that is how we win,” she said. “When we give that customer an experience that’s digital and physical together, then we know we’re serving them on their terms.”
Sustainability efforts have been fruitful, too, both in impact and in driving trips to stores. Nordstrom introduced its beauty takeback program in 2020, which recycles consumers’ beauty products — from any retailer — with the goal of recycling 100 tons by 2025. Last month, Nordstrom hit the halfway point in that goal.