Screen technology, including smartphones and tablets, flattens and democratises the beauty market, according to a beauty market analysis from Diagonal Reports.
Screens can be used not just to recreate, but to also improve on key elements of physical beauty stores, delivering a wide selection of brands, product information, evaluations of brands' merits and up to date price information.
Diagonal added that screens work to democratise the buying of premium brands, making a beauty buying experience, one previously accessible only to people physically present in a limited number of carefully selected points of sale, much more universal. Anyone can use a screen without fearing the stare of the assistant on the other side of the beauty counter, said the report, adding that ‘intimidating’ sales assistants could explain why so many women — and even more men — keep their distance from beauty counters in department stores.
