Less than 18 months after the launch of its beauty selection, Farfetch has announced its closure.

From operational difficulties to a lack of curation, why is Farfetch closing beauty? Here three industry players weigh in 

Last week, premium ecommerce retailer Farfetch announced that it will close its +100 brand-strong beauty offering, featuring the likes of Chanel, Charlotte Tilbury and Olaplex. 

The e-tailer originally launched beauty lines after the acquisition of Violet Grey in January 2022.

With beauty trading coming to an end on August 31st, Farfetch is one of several fashion-focused stockists that have ventured into beauty, only to pull back pretty quickly – see, The RealReal’s exit in March this year. 

Although Violet Grey and Brown’s Beauty are thought to be continuing, what went wrong at Farfetch Beauty? 

A lack of curation expected by the Farfetch customer  

‘Does the customer really care?’ starts Renee Parker, Co-Founder of Invinci Group – a beauty-specific ecommerce consultancy firm – citing the lack of a unique selling point on the platform as a key challenge contributing to its demise. 

‘People are coming to Farfetch for premium fashion, but can the brand offer that same curation, exclusivity or newness for beauty? I would argue consumers are already satisfying their needs through existing retailers.’

As pure-play beauty sites continue to multiply, and an increasing number of distributors hold fort in the market with sampling, offers, and unmatched data, Farfetch’s vision of creating a curated beauty experience hasn’t wholly materialised. 

Parker continues: ‘It makes sense that Farfetch wants to create the same level of customer experience in beauty as it does in fashion, it feels like a natural extension… but the hook just wasn’t there.’

‘Breadth of choice can be overwhelming,’ agrees Wizz Selvey, Retail Expert and Founder of Wizz&Co. ‘The Farfetch customer probably trusted that that retailer would source the best brands for them, but they are faced with a marketplace that you can find everything on,’ she explains. 

Beauty shoppers crave sophisticated user experiences 

The Beauty Pies and Cult Beautys of the market are difficult to compete with due to their attention to customer journey, and unique online experiences. Many say Farfetch Beauty is built on web developments that mimic the site’s fashion lines, without visible specific beauty integrations. 

Selvey said: ‘Pure-play beauty retailers have many beauty-specific functionalities integrated into their websites, making it easier for shoppers to navigate and find the products they want, as well as being rewarded for purchasing. This is a challenge for multi-category retailers.’ 

The e-tailer supplies swatches, texture shots, and ‘before and afters’ for most of its cosmetics, but it doesn’t provide a unique beauty user journey which could be leading to a lack of first-person party data – gold when it comes to marketing and re-purchasing. 

Arguably, the retailer is stuck in the traditional way of selling, something that beauty brands are continuously guilty of. ‘I see brands holding on to old forms of distribution that may not serve them. Many are slow to adapt and adopt new forms that the customer favours because they are driven by values of self-preservation rather than really engaging with consumers,’ said Renee Parker

Beauty’s operational hurdles are hard to surmount 

Returns, faulty products, delivery timings – all of the more laborious details of ecommerce that, if done right, take beauty selling to the next level. Could this be where Farfetch fell? 

Paulina Turner, Co-Founder of Boom’d, an Amazon ecommerce Agency thinks so: ‘Companies underestimate how difficult beauty is to run successfully. From returned, opened, products to sampling, operations often aren’t set up for managing products. Fashion has its challenges but they aren’t as insurmountable as that.’ 

Witnessing the success of speedy delivery for beauty brands launching on Amazon, Turner cites consumer expectation as another issue. ‘The pace of delivery, especially with skincare, is key,’ she says. ‘If you’re loyal to a brand and you’ve run out of your favourite product, you want a refill the next day, not in the next five working ones.’

What’s clear is, consumers continue to expect more from their omnichannel experience and can access their favourite products from millions of touch points across IRL and online. Farfetch Beauty’s short foray into lipsticks, fragrance, and skincare only serves to prove that market saturation – and carving a space within it – is harder than ever.

So, what brands will stand out in the future? 

‘In the year ahead, there will be winners and more losers,’ finishes Wizz Selvey. ‘I predict that mass and premium brands that have a clear point of difference from their competitors will succeed. Mid-market brands, and those who don’t evolve their positioning to a future consumer, may struggle. Retailers need to create loyalty, and a strong connection with consumers to stay in their field of vision.’