What exactly do the consumers mean by "sense of ritual"?
Research on Consumer Needs Exploration&Peak Online Shopping Experience Crafting
The Overview of this research is to understand customers' mental model when they are purchasing a beauty product online. More precisely, what are the different considerations of users with varying usage experiences? How to combine customers' demands with the client's advantageous resources to attract customers to purchase and share their shopping experience.
We generated a comprehensive user requirement description with Marketing Situation, Consumer Insight, Persona, and Consumer Perception. We also collaborated with the Cosmetic team to develop a long-term experience improvement plan, which gained approval and resource allocation from stakeholders. The research findings were gradually implemented in subsequent product iterations. The research framework is comprehensively documented and used as a future Workshop preparation guideline in the UXR Team.
Research Background
In the last 2 years, XX.com Cosmetic has excelled in both sales growth and customer experience. Previously, customer pain points were addressed mainly through negative VOC which were typically collected from online surveys or customer call-ins. However, this approach took 2-3 months, and feedback from silent and churned customers was overlooked. Now, XX.com Cosmetic is revamping customer service to explore unmet needs and proactively improve the online shopping experience.
RESEARCH GOAL
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Understand the purchasing journey of beauty product customers, and identify the factors that accelerate online purchasing decisions ("I want it now") and those that act as obstacles ("maybe later").
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Thoroughly analyze customer profiles, and identify demographic variations and potential opportunities. Create consumer personas based on demographics and purchasing history.
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Understanding the users' perception of XX.com's beauty products. Collaborate with the Beauty Department to transfer the customers' demand into design ideas and develop an experience enhancement plan with a clear execution sequence and focus.
METHOD AND RESEARCH DESIGN
Phase I: Empathize and Define
One-on-One interview(6 Beauty Product Beginners, 10 Enthusiast)
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Map the Purchase Journey： Understand how customers search, compare, and buy beauty products on various e-commerce platforms
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Identify the 'aha moment' and pain points
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Discover customers’ perception of our platform
Phase II: Ideate and Prototype
4-Hour Design Thinking Workshop(12 customers, 6 from Phase I)
Explore Peak Experience factors on the purchasing journey from Phase I
Enhance Realism: translating insight from Phase I into concrete and vivid descriptions to gain a deeper understanding
Phase III: Collaboration and Execution
Strategy Finalization(XX.com Cosmetic and UXR Team)
Analyzing internal resources
Transforming research into a practical strategy with a clear and focused roadmap that will lead to the realization of the ideas.
KEY INSIGHT
In line with the research objectives, our conclusions can also be divided into four parts: Market Situation, Customer Insight, Persona, and Customer Perception.
I. Market Situation
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Beauty Enthusiasts are growing. The awareness of “Self-Pleasing” is continuously rising in Asian countries and more customers are growing from beauty beginners to enthusiasts. Approximately 35% of customers now engage in daily makeup routines, with an even higher fraction of 40% within the GenZ group
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The high-end Cosmetic market is growing. On average, Chinese customers purchase beauty products (skincare and makeup) 3-5 times every six months, through both online and offline channels. Customers show a growing willingness to pay for "aesthetic appeal" and "higher-end, customized service" during their online beauty shopping experiences.
II. Customer Insight
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Customers now prioritize the sense of ritual in beauty product purchase and usage. A positive, and sometimes unexpected post-purchase ritual strongly impacts their "top-of-mind" preference for an online shopping platform and their likelihood of recommending it to others.
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With the increase in purchasing and usage experiences, customers are not only satisfied with the effectiveness of the beauty products themselves but also pay more attention to whether the gifts/samplers are unique, whether the shopping experience is enjoyable, and whether the products' tonality can showcase their own personality(especially for GenZ).
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Customers still plan to stock up on regularly used beauty products. However, the normalization of promotions has gradually shortened the waiting period for stockpiling, and customers have become more sensitive to "price tricks". They are particularly averse to promotional activities that follow price increases.
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As the prices and ingredients become more transparent, customers' knowledge of skincare and makeup gradually increases. Customers are more easily attracted by extreme cost-effectiveness when considering cleansing, superficial hydration, and color cosmetics products. However, when seeking products with a specific efficacy such as anti-aging, customers still prefer high-end beauty brands.​
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Example of "Sense of ritual" from Customers' Perspective: Package of Holiday Seasons
Holiday: Valentine's Day
Design Concept： "Cupid Shoots an Apple"
Customers' Hand-Drawn from Workshop
Unboxing reveals a QR code.
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Password set as an anniversary date.
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Unlock to view a video love letter.
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Upon opening, a sweet fragrance emerges, providing a tangible sense of "sweetness".
III. Persona(Excerpt)
Beauty Beginners
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Definition: Using cosmetics for less than two years
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​Typical Group: First-Year College Student
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Beauty Beginners tend to show a preference for well-known brands and are more likely to be attracted by the products shown in the “recommended for you” section. A logical product classification, a clear effect introduction, and transparent purchasing regulations (not limited but always including return policy, shipping timelines, and discount policy) can help increase the feeling of trust in a shopping platform and reduce the decision time​
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Definition: Using cosmetics for over two years, spending over ten thousand RMB annually on purchases, with a frequency of 8 times or more; Using at least three online channels for beauty product shopping.​
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Typical Group: Young Urban White-Collar Professionals
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Beauty Enthusiasts (who have more purchasing experience) pay more attention to the ingredients and technology used in a product and are more open to trying new products and exploring domestic beauty brands.
Beauty Enthusiasts
Male Customers
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The awareness of skin care among male customers is rising with seasonal characteristics and a focus on fundamental skincare products like facial cleansers, toners, and foundations. Also, male customers are more likely to be attracted by remarkable effects in a relatively short-term period of time, words like “all-in-one” can always catch their eyes when shopping. However, with the increase in social acceptance and the rise of male beauty influencers, the demand for cosmetics among male users continues to grow.
IV. Consumer Perception
Customers have high expectations of XX.com Cosmetic, desiring it to be OFFICIAL, TRUSTWORTHY, and PROFESSIONAL.
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OFFICIAL: Currently, XX.com Cosmetic has successfully positioned itself as an "official" platform in the minds of customers.
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TRUSTWORTHY: While it has a series of after-sales services, there is a need to improve service advertising to reinforce the perception of being "trustworthy".
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PROFESSIONAL: There exists a considerable gap between the customers' expectations of XX.com Beauty's "professionalism" and the actual level of professionalism provided.
"Professional" from the customers' side: Quick access to essential professional information, such as skin type, ingredients, efficacy, instructions, and recommendations during their purchase process. A great example is AR Skin Testing.
"I hope (the platform) can provide me with some product recommendations tailored to my skin type, preferably not limited to one brand, )such as) the AR Skin Testing feature on xx, which works quite well."
- Miss Gao, 2X, XX City
STRATEGY
collaborate with XX.com Cosmetic
​We analyzed the overall performance of XX.com Cosmetic along the user purchasing journey. Based on the customers' demands, perceptions, and the resources available to the department, we re-designed a long-term experience improvement program called "Pyramid" for the Beauty department, which can be divided into four parts: Willing to Come, Willing to Try, Buy with Satisfaction, and Willing to Share.
Integrated Experience Map: Online Purchasing Journey
with Customer Pain Points
Specific Data Will Not be Displayed for Privacy Reason
"Pyramid" Model:
From Try to Share
Strategy Will Not be Displayed for Privacy Reason
RESEARCH IMPACT
​To our "client" XX.com Cosmetic: Page&Service Upgrade
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The beauty department has restructured the entrance, layout, and criteria for selecting hosts in the live-streaming rooms, enhancing the alignment of these rooms with users' perception of "professionalism".
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The beauty department has retained the limited edition packaging that was previously under consideration for cancellation due to cost reduction.
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To the participating brands: User Guide
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The Strategy helps more beauty brands to efficiently open, reorganize, and upgrade their stores and attract more customers before the largest sale season and attract more customers.
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To stakeholders: More resources allocated to UXR works
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We've explored a synergistic approach between UX Research and Business Objectives and involved a User-Centric Perspective in the stakeholders' long-term business strategy.
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By partnering with business teams, we've helped stakeholders grasp the research's impact on both experience improvement and sales growth, which have contributed to increased recognition of the significance of research work
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To Consumer Insight Team:
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As a pilot project in the UXR department, we also published the Service Design Workshop Manual, which precisely documented the procedure and resources needed for a customer workshop from the design to execution and are used for further workshop guidance.