With the hair-care category claiming an increasingly larger stake in the beauty industry, many brands and retailers are seizing the moment by launching products and partnering with public figures to roll out new collections.
One such retailer capitalizing on the growing trend is Target. According to the retailer, it has steadily gained market share in beauty for the last five years, seeing nearly 40% of guests shop its hair-care assortment. After recent success in its hair-care category, Target is putting more investment into expanding the division. The results include exclusive and innovative product launches, digital services for consumers, and high-profile brand partnerships.
At the helm of Target’s robust hair-care strategy is Amanda Nusz, who assumed the role of svp of merchandising of essentials and beauty in July.
“There’s this desire happening in [hair care] where people are looking for inspiration in their routines and have a desire to invest in their hair,” Nusz said. “A lot is going on right now in scalp health and hair health, and people are looking for ways to discover new solutions that are customized for them, which is partly why we [at Target] think right now is a great time to add new products.”
To start, Nusz pushed its newest celebrity launch across the finish line. On July 31, Target announced that it will carry actress Blake Lively’s new hair-care line, Blake Brown Beauty. Lively is known for her role as Serena Van der Woodsen in the late-aughts TV series “Gossip Girl.” The star’s new collection, which consists of shampoos, masks and styling products, launched exclusively at Target’s stores and its e-commerce site starting August 4. All the products are priced at $25 and under.
“The most shocking element to everyone has been that we don’t have conditioner [in the Blake Brown range] but that’s because I haven’t used conditioner in 20 years,” Lively told Glossy in a statement. Instead, she uses deep-conditioning masks after every wash. “Masks deeply nourish and restore your hair, and surprisingly, even 30 seconds with the right ‘Every Wash’ or ‘Fundamental’ makes all the difference,” Lively said, referencing the products from her collection.
The news of Lively’s launch follows a handful of rollouts this year. For example, Target worked with Gen-Z sisters Sadie and Abby Bowler to get their hair-care line SadieB onto Target shelves in March. In July, the Target team, alongside its partner Ulta Beauty, expanded Jennifer Aniston’s LolaVia line into its Ulta Beauty section within select Target stores. That same month, Colorsonic, a new at-home coloring system from L’Oréal, also launched at Target. And in September, the Target team plans to release Style Chemistry by Conair, a styling tool with an adaptable base that will feature a curling iron attachment among its seven styling attachments.
“Moving forward, we’re going to look at the consumer through a life stage mentality to understand their needs and wants and make sure we’re approaching the product pipeline as a portfolio,” Nusz said. Ultimately, what people want is something personal, she said. “They want you to see them, feel them, know them — and they want to make sure that then when they show up at Target, they feel like they can really see themselves in the brand,” she told Glossy.
Providing customization and a unique product assortment is also top of mind for Nusz, and Target.com’s newly launched Beauty Studio aims to satisfy that growing consumer demand. The Beauty Studio, a digital hub powered by AI for interactive shopping help, offers consumers the opportunity to live chat with beauty experts. In addition, they can complete a hair-care quiz that analyzes their hair to receive recommendations of top products tailored to their needs. Virtual hair-color try-on technology will be added to Target’s free Beauty Studio suite of digital offerings later this year.
In its first-quarter 2024 earnings report released in May, Target reported a 3.7% decline in sales across the store, which it says was “offset by continued growth in beauty.” Christina Hennington, Target’s chief growth officer, said during the earnings call that the company’s beauty category delivered growth in the low single digits in the quarter.
Over the next year, while building on its hair-care momentum, Target will continue to invest in its hair-care category by adding at least 100 more products and doubling its exclusive offerings over the next year, according to Nusz.
