Day 5 of a week-long mini-webinar. If you’d like to add a comment, feel free. If you’ve just discovered us resale and consignment shop owners and thrift store managers, the webinar starts here: Day 1
How can the Lipstick Index help resalers?
Estee Lauder has a market indicator they call a “lipstick index”. “We definitely see a spike in lipstick sales when the rest of the retail climate is challenged. It’s the small luxuries that do well. Lipstick offers an easy pick-me-up or splash of color in an otherwise dreary moment….”
It’s thought that a consumer turns to less expensive indulgences, such as lipstick, when she (or he) feels less than confident about the future. Therefore, lipstick sales tend to increase during times of economic uncertainty or a recession. This term was coined by Leonard Lauder (chairman of Estee Lauder), who consistently found that during tough economic times, his lipstick sales went up. The indicator has been quite a reliable signal of consumer attitudes over the years. For example, in the months following the September 11 terrorist attacks, lipstick sales doubled.
The beleaguered economy has educated consumers on the art of frugality. And while many shoppers have axed discretionary items from their budgets, lipstick remains one of the affordable luxuries women won’t live without.
Well, this is interesting, Kate, you may be thinking, but what does it have to do with resale shopkeeping and Perceived Value? Others may be thinking: Kate says we should sell lipstick in our stores and think A: Kate’s crazy and/or B: Quick, where can I get it wholesale?
Well, no, I don’t (necessarily but it might be a big hit for some shops) think you need to start selling lipstick. But you DO need to start paying attention to, and gratifying, that “small indulgence” for your clientele. For lots of reasons:
- Being able to find and afford a small, colorful, pampering indulgence in your shop will raise the Perceived Value of your entire business
- It will satisfy the Positive Outcome guidelines we talked about in Day 4
- It will set you apart from your boring resale competitors who are just slogging along, moaning in their beers about how the price of gas means no one’s buying anything
- It’ll sell YOU on the whole concept of POP (point-of-purchase) merchandise, which can literally pay your rent out of a square foot of leased space
- Something bright and sparkly and “luxurious” will change the perception of “secondhand store” as we talked about in Day 3 much more readily and visibly that just about anything else you can do. Reason enough to have these small goodies in your shop!
- Adding the right color lipstick, the perfectly-cunning bracelet, the all-natural furniture polish or the nostalgic plaything to a shopper’s experience during their visit saves your shoppers time and thrills them as we talked about on Day 2, leading to great word-of-mouth
- And offering interesting little POP items is a terrific way to find out, very subtly, what your clientele values, as discussed on Day 1 when we started off this mini-webinar.
Resaling is almost completely about perceived value, I said at the start of this week. I hope that you now have a better feel for how easy…and profitable…polishing your business’s perceived value can be. Have a great weekend, I’ll be back Monday.
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
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I have 4 kids so when we shop we shop for them, but if I can get a small candle I’m happy! I always joke about it with my friends that if I get to buy a candle I feel like I got something too.
Yesterday I took my girls, age 13, to buy some clothes for camp. They found lots of things… of course I steered them towards the sale racks… I don’t usually pay full price for anything. Anyway, I was feeling bored and bummed that I never get to buy anything, but I found this cute little bracelet with a peace sign on it for $1.99 and bought it just for me. Then I was happy :O)
When I open my kid’s resale shop I plan to have plenty of little things for moms and novelty toys for the kids… moms usually can’t resist buying a little something extra and inexpensive for the kids. I know my 8 yr. old always suckers me into buying a little something wherever we go.
Interesting. My grandmother was a single mom and she always had lipstick. We would give her a hard time when we were kids because she woul put the lipstick on and the more she used it the pointier it got.
My mom is the same way. She was married but had five kids to clothe and feed, but she always had her lipstick. She still does and could pretty much buy herself what ever she wants, but doesn’t.
This blog was insightful. Thanks Kate!
That is so true! When I was a new mom, and didn’t have any extra money to spend, I’d always go shopping and just buy some lipstick, makeup, nail polish….any little thing that I could afford and still be able to shop for something other than diapers and formula! It always made me feel better. Now that I think of it, when I was in college I would do the same thing with costume jewelry. This is something I will definitely keep in the back of my mind when I open my children’s/maternity shop. I will try to find those little things that Mom can buy to make herself feel special.
Excellent reminder…and so true when I was a single mom I bought nail polish every week. I probably had 100 bottles at one point. For $2.99 I could sit in my dinky apartment living room, paint my toenails, and feel like a papmered woman, on a single mama salary. I’m moving up in the world, it’s pedicures these days!
Thank you for this webinar Kate. I love to take an idea and immediately make it happen, your ideas are so great for that!
Well here’s a big SWACK for you Kate – and for this last post in a fabulous webinar!
When our Mom was alive and running our clothing end as a separate store – she hunted down and sold LIPSTICK! Wow! The memories that brought back. (Now I guess I’m goin’ to have to get me some to sell in her honor)
Again, thanks for the reminder. Gotta do something about more POP and stressing add-ons to the staff! Sigh….always somethin’.
You’re a peach!
I was raised by a single mother. She never ever bought anything for herself except lipstick. She had lipstick in every shade, and she wouldn’t answer the door without it. It used to sort of annoy me how prissy she was, but now I understand. Thank you Kate.
I also now understand why we’ve been selling so much inexpensive jewelry lately. I’m going to call it the “Dolly” syndrome after my mom, and order lots more. It’s inexpensive, pretty, and makes people feel better.