They were packing makeup orders live on TikTok as they came in at beauty brand BPerfect Cosmetics. During a marathon event for Black Friday, the emphasis was clearly on ‘get the orders in and get them shipped out’.
Bundle deals and free mini mascaras were the order of the day (and night).
When it came to transparency, you could not get clearer than this. Customers' names were read out as their orders were packed on-camera.
Nice touch at a time when many makeup brands are struggling to keep up with the influx of sales.
The issues at P.Louise have been widely reported on social media, but bigger brands have also been a tad slowed down by an avalanche of bargain hunters.
Made By Mitchell had some very happy customers on TikTok, but its Trustpilot rating is currently dire.
The ugly side of Black Friday
With the annual sales event now being run across much of November, brands can find themselves ringing the tills but struggling to fulfil a literal stampede of orders. And not just over a couple of days but weeks. It's insane. So crazy that it is bound to heap pressure on even the best resourced businesses.
The deals this year have been spectacular, and that is a testament to just how wildly competitive the cosmetics industry is. Deliveries, however, have not been quite so amazing. In the rush to meet consumer demand, mistakes have been made. But will lessons be learned? With the same issues being reported last year, I doubt it.
The problems highlighted this Black Friday have convinced me to ignore the November sales next year. I’d rather buy at a quieter time, pay that little bit more and stand a better chance of getting all my products with no hassle. The worry of ‘will it come, won’t it come?’ takes the shine off the savings, don’t you think? I’m not letting stress knock time off my life for the sake of a lip gloss! (Although, I might accept a tiny bit of suffering for the right eyeshadow palette - or three.)
Dismal customer service is something that has been flagged time and time again. It’s almost a case of ‘the usual suspects’ because the same brands are ratcheting up criticism over and over again. What some beauty businesses forget is that they aren’t just selling physical products but an experience. And that experience includes everything from how easy it is to order to how quickly the goods arrive, not to mention how people are treated by customer services if something goes wrong. The entire journey has to be seamless and it has to match the brand’s products and ethos. I am not seeing a lot of that, with a few exceptions.
BPerfect Cosmetics was just... perfect
As well as being a good PR stunt, what BPerfect Cosmetics did for its live TikTok event was ethical and time-saving. It was a ‘show and tell’ masterclass that reassured customers by saying: “This is your order and we’ve packed it.” Because they packed as the sales came in, there was no massive list of TikTok orders to be packed the next day. It was done and dusted, there and then. I liked that.
They put together the right deals and then instantly reassured any Black Friday-weary consumers. Their actions screamed: "You're going to get this."
It was a bit hectic, but I didn’t spot a single mistake in the time I watched the team. Well done!
Transparency at its best - hence the brand and its founder, Brendan McDowell, get top marks from me for Black Friday sales.
BPerfect Cosmetics was founded in Belfast in 2012 and five years later went on to feature on Ireland’s version of Dragons’ Den. This is an innovative and inclusive brand that values versatility. As well as makeup, it is well-known for its tanning products. It creates easy to use cosmetics that make routines quicker and easier.
The brand has an outstanding rating on Trustpilot, too.
For further information about BPerfect, visit its website here.
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