Glossier Startup: Opportunity, Strategy, and Feedback Analysis

This report offers a detailed analysis of Glossier, a prominent beauty and skincare startup. It begins with an overview of the company, its origins, and its focus on natural beauty, emphasizing its unique approach to cosmetics. The report then delves into Glossier's opportunity recognition, highlighting key factors such as customer-centricity, venture capital funding, strategic expansion, loyalty programs, and its eco-friendly approach. The analysis extends to experiential marketing, the company's social media presence, and its community-building efforts. The report also proposes changes to Glossier's business model, including expanding brick-and-mortar stores, broadening service offerings, and incorporating more visual testimonials. Furthermore, it explores the company's competitors and incorporates customer feedback to refine its strategy and business model canvas, concluding with a comprehensive evaluation of Glossier's current position and future prospects. The report also provides a brief analysis of the company's potential competitors and how they pose a threat to the customer base of Glossier. A feedback shall be collected from some of the company’s customers in order to realize its shortcomings and the necessary changes to its business model. Lastly, a new business model canvas shall be prepared keeping in mind the newly proposed changes and feedback from the customers after which a final conclusion will be drawn.

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Management

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Introduction
This report aims to provide a brief overview of a relatively new and emerging startup company
called Glossier along with their scope and purpose. This report will present a business model
canvas of the above mentioned company and analyze its approach from the beginning.
Furthermore, it mainly focuses upon how the said company has succeeded in the identification
and recognition of possible opportunities for advancing their business in the global market and
how it aims to propose certain changes to the approach and functioning of the company.
There will also be a detailed analysis of the company’s potential competitors and how they pose
a threat to the customer base of Glossier. A feedback shall be collected from some of the
company’s customers in order to realize its shortcomings and the necessary changes to its
business model. Lastly, a new business model canvas shall be prepared keeping in mind the
newly proposed changes and feedback from the customers after which a final conclusion will be
drawn.

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Brief Overview of the Company
Glossier is a beauty, cosmetics and Skincare Company that was founded by a fashion assistant at
W Magazine named Emily Weiss (Glossier, 2019). She had graduated from New York
University in 2007 and was working as an on-set styling assistant for Vogue when she had
initially come up with the business idea for Glossier. Finally in the year 2013, Emily Weiss
began approaching venture capitalists with the hopes of expanding her business into a potential
‘Into The Gloss’ e-commerce platform followed by its official launch in the year 2014.
Glossier has amassed enormous popularity in the beauty industry (Glossier, 2019). The company
exclusively celebrates the idea of natural beauty which is practical in daily life. Glossier provides
a unique alternative view of makeup and cosmetics by ways of treating cosmetics as an extra step
in one’s beauty routine that enhances one’s natural imperfections rather than hiding them behind
several layers of toxic makeup. It provides its customers with affordable luxury products that
enhance their natural beauty instead of feeding upon their insecurities and weaknesses to make
them desirous of an appearance that they cannot achieve. Reflecting this phenomenon of the
company’s approach, the colour palette of most of its products include shades of light pink, red,
green and all of those colours that can be associated with relaxation and spiritual catharsis. The
company aims to lay foundations for a movement that advocates for real women and real beauty.
The recent launch of Glossier’s Body Hero campaign is an excellent example of how the
company wishes to celebrate flaws which represents the company’s mission clearly. In terms of
Glossier’s market strategy, it aims to focus upon the most essential market drivers in the industry
which are the ever increasing middle class, product innovation and influencer marketing.
Glossier is a brand that generally attracts the millenials and the Gen Z women the most. Hence,
Glossier has a huge social media presence across all notable platforms such as Instagram,
Facebook, Pinterest, Youtube and so on (Glossier, 2019). Though these social media platforms, it
continues to present a sharp contrast to the other mainstream players in the beauty industry that
promote full coverage makeup and unnatural beauty standards. Glossier, on the other hand,
wishes to set its own path and bring fresh and natural makeup back into fashion in order to give
women the much required boost of self confidence and enable them to view themselves in a
different light such that they feel proud about their features rather than despising them.

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Opportunity Recognition
Glossier can easily be defined as a basic digitally native brand that has been successful in
garnering a lot of attention and building a huge following especially among the Gen Z women.
Glossier’s President and CFO Hendry Davis says that Glossier represents not just a beauty and
cosmetics brand but a people-powered beauty ecosystem. According to the CFO, Glossier has
built itself on the basis of give major business opportunities that it had identified in the very early
stages of business modeling.
Customers First
It is evident that a company is exclusively guided by a fierce loyalty and dedication to the
fulfillment of customers’ wishes and desires (Hill and Brierley, 2017). In order to achieve
this, a company must always start with direct and more personal customer relationships
(Agnihotri et al, 2016). The distinction between Glossier and other brands arises from the
fact that traditional beauty brands are somewhat confused about their customer segment
and whose interests they are serving. Glossier, on the other hand, knows their target
audience very well and is aware of what their customers truly want. According to Henry
Davis, although the company started out with its focus on a particular focus on the
millennial age, it is slowly evolving and learning to incorporate a wide range of ages into
its target audience Glossier.
Venture Capital Funding
At its launch in the year 2014, Glossier raised $10.4 million in venture capital financing
over a seed and series A round. Along with that, a series B funding of $24 million was
also received by the company in the year 2016. Glossier is currently trying to respond to
a growing global demand for its brand name and the through the above mentioned
venture capital finances, the company expects to develop significantly in the following
years (Glossier, 2017).
Headquarters Expansion
Glossier sought to expand its headquarters by adding and retaining jobs across the field of
marketing, finance, technology and other essential functions. Furthermore, Glossier’s

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New York expansion was supported and facilitated by the Empire State Development
which provided the company with a push forward boost with a financial aid of $3 million
in performance-based tax credits through the Excelsior Jobs Program.
Loyalty Programs
According to Stathopoulou and Balabanis (2016) loyalty programs can help in retaining
customers and encouraging them to visit stores and repurchase items again. This would
not only benefit the company’s overall reputation in the industry and among the crowds
but also help in increasing financial profits (Kang et al, 2015). Glossier initiated loyalty
programs from the very beginning. Many retailers reward customers’ frequent or sizeable
purchases with discounts, coupons and free product samples. Glossier, too engages in
loyalty programs in order to increase its customer loyalty. They also provide loyal
customers with an advance notice of sales and discounts along with access to special
invitation-based parties and company events.
Easy Payment- E-Payment
In order to construct a global brand that transcends the boundaries imposed by a single
currency, it is essential for any company to allow alternative and hassle free payment
methods. If the payment method is complicated, customers automatically avoid making
purchases thus negatively impacting the company’s sales. Glossier has tried to keep its
payment methods minimal and safe across the globe in order to facilitate global
expansion allowing shoppers to make purchases through e-banking, credit/debit cards,
etc.
Eco-friendly Approach
Many beauty brands are now trying to create an image that advertises itself as an
environmentally safe company (Payne and Devitt, 2018). As the millennial generation is
becoming more and more self conscious about their contribution towards environmental
safety, there is a greater demand for beauty products to be vegan and cruelty free
(Liobikienė et al, 2016). Glossier also has been successful in leveraging environmental
safety in products thus complying with the demands of brands to make their products
more and more eco-friendly.

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Experiential Marketing
Transcending the company’s launch as a mere online platform for beauty and skincare,
Glossier has spent a significant share of its resources in developing pop-up stores in
North America, Asia and Europe in order to enhance its visibility among people and
expand its possibility of growth. This also facilitates a good share of global expansion
that has ultimately led to Glossier becoming a global representative of natural makeup
and beauty.
Massive Social Media Presence
Perhaps the most interesting and successful business opportunity created by the company
itself is its social media presence (Jones et al, 2015). The presence of Glossier’s customer
service on online platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and Youtube is considerable with
an average of 1-4 posts per day. The company has used every platform to fulfill a
different purpose. They have also used memes in order to advertise their brand and
enhance customer’s ability to relate with its content. Glossier generally uses Youtube to
advertise ways to use their makeup line with the help of makeup tutorials and
introductory videos to make the customer segment familiar with the product reviews
whereas Twitter is mostly used to announce the company’s latest products, events,
discounts and other developments to keep customers updated about the company’s recent
whereabouts.
Glossier’s social media strategy generates approximately one million clicks to the
website regularly. Their huge audience opens the company up to influencers who are
interested in their products. With the help of sponsorships and affiliations, they create
engagement for their own products and content. Glossier also shares posts from non-
influencers in order to advertise its true mission which stands for beauty in the real world
which is practical and correlates with the regular working women who reside outside the
beauty industry. This creates more awareness about the company’s authenticity and
originality thus separating it from all other beauty brands existing on social media today.
The company makes sure to emphasize on the ideology of less is more so as to attract
attention towards its vision and mission (Glossier, 2019). Glossier allows and encourages
blog posts, how-to posts, tutorials and so on in order to open up its reach and make sure

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that people who cannot make it to flagship stores can also get to know about their
products and become potential customers of the brand in the future.
Community
Glossier’s CFO Henry Davis proclaims that the company is focused and dedicated to incorporate
their customers into their business community (Glossier, 2017). They wish to make their
customers into stakeholders so that they can provide aid in improving the company’s products
along with becoming their sales channel. In order to further build its community, Glossier has
developed its physical retail scenario with two permanent locations including a Soho flagship in
New York and and Los Angeles’ Melrose Place. It also has various popup shops such as one
which is planted in Chicago.
Proposed Changes
More Brick And Mortar Stores
Brick and mortar stores help in reaping the traffic that is associated with certain particular
destinations and shopping patterns (Pauwels and Neslin, 2015). Various studies have shown that
65% of customers prefer purchasing their goods from a physical retailer which is nearby and
convenient for them (O'Guinn, 2015). There is an undeniable sense of trust between the consumers
and the sellers such that a physical location helps in deepening the trust between both of them by
the mere physical presence of each other (Johnson et al, 2015). All customers associate brick and
mortar stores with legitimacy and familiarity which leads to more customer retention. At present,
Glossier is considerably lagging behind in terms of their physical presence and mostly functions
as an e-commerce operations company that conducts all of its business over the web.
Furthermore, Glossier is not currently available in the world’s largest beauty and cosmetics chain
brand called Sephora. This significantly reduces the scope for Glossier to engage in profit-
making sales.
Expansion of Services
Glossier only ships products to the United States of America, Puerto Roco, Canbada and the
United Kingdom at present. Hence, their global reach is limited and there is a lack of
accessibility across the world. It rests upon every startup company to develop itself over the
course of time and expand its services such that people across the world can have access to their

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products and services. Glossier too needs to improve upon their shipping facilities and expand
their target audience.
More Visual Testimonials
What customers see, they would believe and follow. Glossier lacks considerable number of
video testimonials in their digital space. In order to achieve genuine customer feedback
reviews, users must log onto Glossier’s youtube channel. However, Glossier does not always
remain very active on Youtube and thus reduces the chance of garnering customers’ attention
through visual means. With only about 150,000 subscribers on Youtube with their last two
videos uploaded in a span of five months, it is clear that Glossier needs to develop its visual
testimonial sphere furthermore.
Collaborations
Collaborations with celebrities and social media influencers is a fantastic way to market one’s
products and brand (Avery, 2015). By getting in touch with a person who can attract attention to
Glossier’s brand and help them to invite new people to its customer case, the company can
significantly increase its popularity. Various influencers on Youtube as well as Instagram are
open to taking sponsorship offers and advertising a certain company or a company’s product in
return (DeHoog, 2015). Sometimes, companies may also enable influencers to introduce a
discount code by using which a customer can avail an offer on any purchase made on the
company’s website and the influencer shall receive a small commission out of every purchase
that is made.
These sponsorships and collaborations significantly help to increase brand awareness and create
positive PR about the company as a whole. Sponsorships can be strategically timed in order to
promote a particular sales promotion campaign or a new launch of a product. It also helps to
create internal emotional commitment to the brand and attract customers into believing that the
company is indeed consumer friendly and approachable.
Inclusivity
Although the current campaign of Glossier advertises and depicts women of all different shapes
and sizes belonging having skin tones and shades, Glossier is still a new startup and currently
caters to women only having fair skintones. The range of shades available on Glossier’s skin

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products at present is far from inclusive and requires a lot of work in order to create the image of
Glossier as a company that caters to the needs and desires of all women and not just a handful of
skin tones belonging primarily to the Western countries. This may also be deemed as misleading
marketing wherein on one hand the company claims to be accepting of diversity among women
and the fact that different women need different products according to their personalities, one the
other hand the company is not willing to include women of colour into its widening spectrum.
Feedback from Customers
Customers generally belong to the modern working age group who believe in the need for
natural and genuine beauty products that enhance their natural features rather than subduing it
(Davis et al, 2017). After collecting feedback from Glossier customers, it can be noted that
customers share love for the products and services rendered by the company and believe that
Glossier has indeed presented a unique alternative to the mainstream beauty brands that exist in
the market today. What is most likeable about Glossier’s services is that it stands apart from
other companies and helps women to develop an unconditional positive regard towards their own
appearance which is very rare in today’s world which is obsessed with perfection and inhuman
standards of beauty that cannot possibly be fulfilled by normal women. Women generally do like
Glossier’s products and do not wish to change it. However, Glossier’s products are more on the
higher end spectrum and customers wish that the company works upon lowering their prices.
Customers imagine Glossier to be an investment piece in their beauty routine and hence they
would agree to spend their money upon Glossier products simply because of its good
functionality and exuberant nascent charm.
Potential Competitors
In the year 2017, the multi-category beauty and cosmetics industry in the United States mainly
consisted of certain major brands such as Sephora, Ulta Beauty, L Brands and Sally Beauty.
However, upon much deeper analysis, there are three major direct competitors of Glossier in the
market today namely Milk Makeup, ColourPop and Lime Crime. It is notable that Colourpop and
Lime Crime veer towards a more full coverage approach which stands in opposition to Glossier’s
vision (Owler, 2019). However, Milk Makeup is one strong contender as it advertises natural and
light weight makeup as well.

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Milk Makeup
Milk Makeup is a cruelty-free makeup and cosmetics brand which has originated from New
York and was founded by Mazdack Rassi, Georgie Greville and Zanna Roberts Rassi in the year
2016. The brand of Milk Makeup focuses on lifestyle-based consciousness which revolves
around the ideas of freedom, diversity and inclusivity which allows its customers reflect their
desired lifestyles and principles on their cosmetic products as well. Milk Makeup advertises a
rather futuristic style which is quite opposite to Glossier’s approach on natural makeup. Milk
Makeup does not include bright and bold colours in its colour palette and thus differentiates itself
from brands that are experimenting with neon and related colour schemes. They represent
fashion-forward shades and creative application methods which ensures strong differentiation
and creates a sense of uniqueness. One of the most distinguishable features of the products
created by Milk Makeup is their packaging wherein they sought to provide every product in a
easily accessible and travel friendly stick form. Milk Makeup’s target audience also consists of
the millennial and Gen Z women who are constantly on the go with a certain amount of edge and
panache. All of this can be observed on the official website of the brand as well as from
customers’ user experiences. Apart from this, they are also trying to incorporate influencers and
bloggers into their advertisement arena by enabling them to request product samples for review
purposes directly on the official website of the company through a simple online form. Milk
Makeup understands consumer trends and attitudes which are most relevant for its success and
which drive the company’s insights into developing products that are more and more unique and
consumer friendly. Most importantly, what stands as the biggest advantage of Milk Makeup over
Glossier is that it is available for purchase not only on their official website but also on other
major e-commerce and other stores including Sephora, Urban Outfitters, Ulta and Birchbox.
Hence, Milk Makeup is a lifestyle-based positioning that presents an amalgamation of unique
and fresh style along with basic functionality which enhances the youthful vigor of an
individualistic millennial who desires a bold yet minimalistic look.
Business Model Canvas
Key Partners
 Supply and
Key Activities
 Personalized
Value Proposition
 Credibility
Customer
Relationships
Customer
Segments

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cosmetic
companies
 Publishing
Companies
such as
beauty/gos
sip/fashion
companies.
 Fashion
houses
Like
beauty
trends
And
beauty
shows and
concerts.
 Social
networkin
g
services
Like building
a separate staff
that would be
responsible to
interact with
customers in a
one to one
basis.
 Realizing
customer
preference
 Customized
service
 Range of
products
By offering
best products
at the best
prices
 Online
community
and social
pages and
groups
 Self-
interacting
service which
involves
customer
service as well
as self-service
 Beauty
enthusiasts
like fashion
bloggers,
cosmetic
bloggers and
high valued
customers who
regularly use
the products
 Women in the
age group of
18-44
 High
maintenance
clients who
wants to be
attended
personally.
 Clients who
do not know
which product
to purchase
and use
Key Resources
 Online
platform
 Experts in the
industry
 Sponsors
Channels
 Direct delivery
of goods and
services
 Setting up
stalls in fairs
and concerts.
 Creating
awareness
trough print,
social media
and other
relevant
channel
Cost Structure
 Staff
 Website overheads
Revenue Streams
 Online
 Departmental stores.

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 Sponsors  Sponsorship.
Key partners:
 Supply and cosmetic companies:
Collaboration of Glossier’s with other cosmetic companies is an effective of re building
the business. By merging and working as a partner with big and reputed cosmetic and
beauty products company, it can afford to get the exposure require to enhance its
products and services. It can work in partnership with companies like Loreal, which is a
big brand name in this industry. It can get innovative ideas on how can they attract more
customers and how can they improve their current products in the market.
The business can become partner with a supply company that could help in delivering the
goods anywhere needed. For example, Alibaba, a china- based company that distributes
beauty products.
 Publishing companies:
The business can think of investing into magazines related to beauty and gossips on
beauty, newspapers etc. This would attract a large number of vivid beauty magazine
readers that further could help in increasing their sales. They can even print articles on
well - known newspapers of the area.
 Fashion Houses:
By partnering with top-notch fashion houses would be a plus point for the business. It can
think of coming into partnership that specialize making and sales of high-end cosmetic,
beauty and skin care products. For example, if the business thinks of providing skin care