Everyone Is Investing in Beauty
What do Best Buy and Moda Operandi have in common? The two diametric retailers — the former specializing in electronics and the latter dealing in luxury fashion — might seem like polar opposites, but they both agree: the business of beauty is booming.
In-store and online, Best Buy now offers a range of beauty devices, ranging from Therabody's recently launched TheraFace to Revive's anti-aging LED light wand.
Best Buy also sells a selection of non-electronic products (think face wash and lip balm), but the category skews towards traditionally "masculine" brands such as Duke Cannon, a purveyor of comically macho products including the "Big Ass Brick of Soap" and "THICK" body wash (scented like "Naval Supremacy," whatever that means).
On the other end of the retail spectrum, Moda Operandi will begin selling categories including makeup, skincare, and fragrance by the end of 2022.
The e-commerce platform, which allows customers to pre-order fashion straight off the runway, has appointed Harpers Bazaar alum and Fat Mascara podcast co-host Jessica Matlin as beauty director.
Moda Operandi follows in the footsteps of luxury fashion e-tailer Farfetch, which launched skincare, hair care, makeup, and fragrance in April. Over the past year, comparable platforms such as SSENSE and Net-a-Porter expanded their beauty curation to encompass skincare tools (facial rollers, gua sha stones, etc.) and niche perfumes.
Clearly, fashion is clued in to the power of prestige beauty, a category whose sales skyrocketed in 2021. For companies like Moda Operandi, the investment makes perfect sense — customers dropping serious cash on designer clothing probably care about their skincare routines, too.
But everyone, not just the well-heeled, are beauty consumers (that toothpaste on your counter and shampoo in your shower are, in fact, beauty products). Best Buy's unexpected expansion into skincare devices and body wash is a testament to the far-reaching appeal of both prestige and mass market brands.
Whether you're hunting for couture or just looking for a new TV, you're also a buyer of beauty. Moda Operandi and Best Buy will gladly take your money.
