Instant-delivery companies have their sights set on beauty

Shoppers don’t just want snacks delivered ASAP. They need shampoo and deodorant in a pinch, too.

Enter: instant-delivery companies.

Beauty fits into what Adam Wacenske, US head of operations at Gorillas, calls an “Oh no, I’m out” situation. “You run out of shampoo or lotion or something, it’s not something you typically plan for,” he told Retail Brew. “The ability to have these things delivered relatively quickly…it sort of sets up nicely for a lot of beauty products.”

Gorillas, which already works with brands like Dove, Olay, and Aveeno, sees plenty more potential in the space. “We know that there’s demand for it, and we see it through a lot of our searches,” Wacenske said. “We know that we want to bolster this.”

So do other startups. Gopuff partnered with Coty in 2020 to drop off beauty fixes—like Sally Hansen’s Miracle Gel nail polish or Covergirl’s LashBlast mascara—in 30 minutes. FastAF now works with premium brands like Olaplex (hair) and Dr. Barbara Sturm (skin care) to get their goods to consumers—in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, for now—in under two hours.

• About a third (36%) of FastAF’s order composition is beauty, according to the company.

In the eye of the deliverer: Beauty products, like face wash and deodorant, are right up there with toothpaste and vitamins, the most popular items in personal care for Gorillas. John Mercer, head of global research at Coresight Research, told us “there’s probably a lot of potential” in that segment, “because it’s really just transferring from one grocery format to another.”

But the beauty of beauty is that it isn’t limited to lower-price points.

“A lot of these items are sort of luxury items, just by nature,” Wacenske said. FastAF CMO Susan Panico, meanwhile, told us that its customer base has a typical household income of $100,000+, so a $80 face cream by Dr. Barbara Sturm, doesn’t necessarily feel out of place on its app. “Because of that economic power, they’re probably more willing to spend more on something that they haven’t tried before,” she explained.

• FastAF’s average basket size comes to $142, per Panico.

Mercer noted that a value proposition for some of these rapid-delivery companies is in driving up basket sizes and, by extension, driving up margins.

Ultimately, however, beauty is a growing category for rapid delivery, which is why both FastAF and Gorillas are sticking to diversifying their product mix. “We’ll do the same thing in beauty, where we want to have an entry price point and a…premium price point for those who want that or need that,” Wacenske said.