Nevada-based Zappos.com aims to expand its digital market share of online cosmetics, fragrances and hygiene product sales.

Cassandra Lappe, Zappos.com Inc.’s beauty buyer, told WWD, “The vision is in five years to have a Bobbi Brown, MAC, Dior and Chanel. Zappos.com thinks there is a lot of room for growth.”

“People don’t think of Zappos as a beauty destination, people think of it as a shoe destination,” Lappe said. Lappe is working to help change the perception of Zappos.com from a single-category specialist to a one-stop shop with beauty playing a prominent role. The company’s five-year goal is to build Zappos.com beauty, which recorded less than $1 million in sales last year, into a $75 million business.

Beautiful Digital Commerce Development

Beauty on Zappos.com has been making progress. It received a tab on the e-tailer’s home page in December, a key contributor to beauty’s 400 percent year-over-year monthly sales jumps this year. And Zappos.com has increased the number of beauty brands from three — Paula Dorf, Lola and Jaqua — two years ago to its current selection of nearly 80 brands.

Marketing Strategies To Expand Beauty Market Share

In perfect Zappos fashion, the #1 marketing tactic for gaining market share over Makeup.com, Beauty.com, Sephora.com or Ulta.com is going to be CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Zappos.com will initiate a skin care builder tool within the next 30 days that will suggest skin care product choices to customers based on their skin types. The company hired an in-house aesthetician, Katrine Cass, who is slated to start answering customers’ skin care questions via e-mail in a few months. It also will partner with Stila on exclusive palettes and other gift items for the holiday season, according to Lappe.

Beauty Product Sales Percentages

Fragrance constitutes about 44 percent of Zappos.com’s beauty sales; makeup, 27 percent; skin care, 16 percent, and hair care, 13 percent.

Beauty Customer Demographics

The prototypical Zappos.com customer is 25- to 40-year-old with a household income of $75,000 to $125,000.  But current purchasing trends in beauty product sales on Zappos indicate the age range for beauty shoppers spans wider. The company has about 10 million customers, a figure that is likely to escalate using the considerable know-how of Amazon.com to broaden Zappos.com’s reach.

FMM Marketing Insights

Some of you remember Melissa Pierce’s interview with CEO Tony Hsieh, I was her camera person that day. From the day I met the people of Zappos, I never doubted what this company could do. Zappos is going to be extremely successful in building a beauty division. By developing strategies based on their core values, their proven track record with extraordinary service and large customer base, Zappos is going to be extremely effective in building an exceptional beauty division. Sephora and Ulta are going to have competition.  – Macala Wright Lee