KICKS: For skincare and makeup marketing, customers take centre stage as unparalleled advocates

This case study explores KICKS’ journey in integrating Flowbox’s UGC capabilities, transforming their emails into vibrant, authentic, and community-driven communication channels that resonate with their brand values. Dive into the story of how KICKS Group not only navigated challenges but also turned them into opportunities, setting a new standard in customer-centred beauty marketing.

Story

KICKS Group stands as the preeminent force in the Nordic beauty market, encompassing renowned entities such as KICKS and Skincity. Through a strategic blend of innovation, personalised service, robust product brands, and a distinctive consumer journey, KICKS firmly establishes itself as a definitive market leader.

At the core of KICKS’ offerings is a comprehensive one-stop shop for all things beauty and cosmetics, spanning makeup, fragrances, skincare, and hair care. The extensive product portfolio boasts over 25,000 items from more than 228 renowned brands. With 230 strategically located stores across Sweden, Norway, and Finland, KICKS ensures widespread accessibility, complemented by localised eCommerce platforms tailored to each market.

Embodying a commitment to excellence, KICKS Group sets the standard for the Nordic beauty landscape, seamlessly blending product diversity, expert guidance, and a commitment to staying at the forefront of industry trends.

The challenge

There is a unique challenge in selling skincare or cosmetics products, they aren’t something that once opened is easy to return, and because of this customer reviews have become essential in these industries.

“I think UGC is important to the customer who wants to try a new product in the cosmetics or skincare industries. Today the customer can read a lot of reviews and do a lot of research themselves. I think it’s easier to believe in and get inspired by what you see and hear about a new product when you see other people like yourself using the products and you can see all the colours, textures and benefits of the product.”Tina Bergeskans, CRM Project Leader and Teamlead at KICKS

Consumers, when investing in high-value products, rely heavily on reviews and peer experiences when making purchasing decisions. For KICKS, integrating UGC became pivotal in establishing trust and influencing potential buyers. 

“User Generated Content is really important. I myself love to try out new products, and If I would be interested in buying for example a new expensive serum, it can cost a lot of money for just one product. Then what other customers say or write about the product in reviews matters a lot, UGC can really help me decide if I dare to try it or not.”Tina Bergeskans, CRM Project Leader and Teamlead at KICKS

Consumer generated marketing appeals to the brand when it comes to marketing makeup products too. With beauty influencers having moulded the way that selling makeup works in recent years it’s no surprise that using content created by consumers in the form of makeup looks, before and afters and tutorials has become one of the most effective ways to sell makeup.

“There is a lot of content out there on how to use makeup and a lot of people have a favourite influencer that they follow, for example on TikTok or Instagram. And the influencers are trying out new products or showing new ways to do your makeup or skincare routine. It can be really inspiring to see other, “normal” people using the products, you don’t have to be a makeup artist, you don’t have to be educated – You can try it out and be your own makeup artist.”Tina Bergeskans, CRM Project Leader and Teamlead at KICKS

The solution

In their pursuit of expanding in eCommerce, KICKS found a solution in Flowbox’s Flows, incorporating dynamic UGC images and videos on their website and strategically embedding UGC in various email types. Selling skincare or makeup online can be difficult in the sense that consumers cannot try on or use testers of products like they can in a physical store. Seeing products in use by everyday people helps to bridge this gap.

“For KICKS UGC is very important because we want to continue to grow in eCommerce. I think it’s important for the customers to see the products in action getting reviewed by others. Seeing other people using the products, talking about colours and textures is really important and inspiring if you want to buy a new product online, without trying it on first.”Tina Bergeskans, CRM Project Leader and Teamlead at KICKS

Thanks to Flowbox’s email assets capabilities KICKS has been able to leverage the power of UGC in various email types, including abandoned cart emails, newsletter subscription confirmation emails, and automated emails triggered by spending habits. 

Email assets are a set of dynamic images and links that facilitate the addition of the freshest UGC you’ve moderated in Flowbox. The result? More compelling, authentic and customer-centric emails.

“We decided to add UGC to our emails to make them feel more alive and up-to-date. The addition of UGC makes our emails look fresh and current.”Tina Bergeskans, CRM Project Leader and Teamlead at KICKS

One thing that appealed to the brand about email assets is that it refreshes the UGC automatically so that those receiving the email will be able to view the most recent consumer content. This way these images don’t need to be refreshed manually every time an email is sent and those receiving the emails are kept up to date on the latest social media content featuring the most relevant products. This dynamic approach adds novelty to repetitive emails. 

“Flowbox is nice and easy to use, helping us to always be up-to-date with the latest tagged Instagram content. Flowbox always brings something new and relevant to our email marketing automations that contain the same main content over time.”Tina Bergeskans, CRM Project Leader and Teamlead at KICKS

The addition of UGC into KICKS’ emails serves as a powerful tool for communicating brand values and reinforcing their “show more of you” philosophy. KICKS’ email campaigns now boast a visually engaging and community-backed communication style, providing social proof to consumers and enhancing the brand’s association with quality and customer satisfaction.

“Flowbox and UGC allow us to get the company’s value out there -‘More of you’, and sharing UGC is one easy way to show more of you, and feel comfortable with who you are. It is in line with our email strategy to spread the ‘More of you’ manifest.”Tina Bergeskans, CRM Project Leader and Teamlead at KICKS

The Flowbox experience