Cult Beauty marketplace case study: book a demo to start yours
Cult Beauty is a UK-based online beauty store known for curating and selling a thoughtfully chosen collection of premium beauty and skincare products from diverse brands. If you’d like to start your own marketplace like Cult Beauty, you’re facing a buy vs build decision. So before you decide to build it in-house on top of Spree open-source, consider using Vendo, which is the feature-rich Enterprise Edition cutting your time-to-market to a few weeks.
Build vs Buy a marketplace?
There are several positives to using open-source, like having total control and flexibility in development. But, it’s important to remember that these advantages are not without their costs. Building a complete marketplace solution from scratch is a time-consuming and expensive endeavor, often taking many months or years. This insight comes from our experience with multiple marketplace ventures.
If you haven’t received substantial funding, you are likely to benefit more from an integrated marketplace solution such as Vendo, a recommendation from someone who has spent years charging for marketplace development services.
Back to the Cult Beauty marketplace case study
Cult Beauty has established itself as a distinctive player in the online beauty retail space, founded with the aim to demystify the beauty industry and make premium and emerging brands accessible to a wider audience. It offers a wide range of products, including skincare, makeup, and haircare, with an emphasis on quality and efficacy.
Cult Beauty’s growth has been notable, particularly in its revenue numbers. The company has seen substantial year-on-year growth, reaching significant revenue milestones. This growth can be attributed to its unique product range, commitment to customer service, and ability to adapt to changing consumer behaviors. The marketplace is not just a platform for sales; it’s a resource for beauty enthusiasts who are looking for the next big thing in beauty, as well as tried and tested products.
The acquisition by The Hut Group (THG) in 2021 for £275 million marked a significant milestone in Cult Beauty’s journey. This move was part of THG’s broader strategy to expand its beauty offerings and leverage Cult Beauty’s unique market position and loyal customer base. The acquisition has provided Cult Beauty with more resources to expand its brand portfolio, improve customer experience, and scale internationally.
Cult Beauty’s success is also reflected in its commitment to innovation and customer insights. Understanding the evolving needs and preferences of its customers has allowed the marketplace to continually offer relevant and sought-after products. Additionally, Cult Beauty has been keen on expanding its international presence, launching specific websites for different countries to cater to a global audience.
How to emulate Cult Beauty marketplace success?
In striving for success comparable to Cult Beauty, plan to launch your marketplace expediently, within weeks instead of months. Assess the alignment of your product catalog with your audience’s needs and modify your customer acquisition plans based on real results.
Test the market before diving into building it yourself.
Here’s what you’d be getting with a Vendo free trial:
- Book a marketplace demo call: We’ll set up your demo marketplace and populate it with products, so you could give it a try and start selling in 14 days
- Customize your Storefront: Use the drag & drop page builder or custom CSS
- Onboard Brands: Invite your brands or choose brands from our catalog
- Select Products: Curate products and collections manually or automate it
- Embed products: Make your content, newsletters, social media shoppable
- Get Paid: Get paid as soon as products are shipped by the brands
- End-to-end automation: Brands sync, fulfillment, payouts, invoicing, taxes
When you’ve tried all that and it works, start thinking about building your own, custom-made marketplace project based on Spree Commerce. First, by decoupling the storefront and going headless with Vendo marketplace API, and later with your own backend, if you decide you really need it. Just lift and shift the storefront.
Nobody has to know what’s under the hood, right?
