Skincare companies and their online sales policies

[Rhubarb]

Hello
I just wanted to air my grievences. some of the suppliers I use have come up with new policies and procedures for the retailing of their stock online. Its going to cost alot of money (they want it set up on a seperate website). Whats the go with that. I thought that once you had bought a product, you could retail it in salon, online and that they can't just change the goal posts....thoughts please!

 

[persianista]

Thankfully we were at the start of building ours when the new rules were imposed so can comply. Sadly the fakes and eBay traders devalued the brand and they had to take action to protect themselves and the salons.

 

[bombini]

Thankfully we were at the start of building ours when the new rules were imposed so can comply. Sadly the fakes and eBay traders devalued the brand and they had to take action to protect themselves and the salons.

I agree but surely the discount beauty sites have also contributed. Everyone keeps undercutting each other.

What sort of new policies do they have ?

 

[persianista]

seperate website, in company colours, only advertised at rrp, helpline available, must be approved first. Anyone not complying by Mon this week will lose their account.
Most of the suppliers I deal with have policies. Bear in mind I have been dealing with this all week. The companies are trying to ensure that only their salons are trading this way, and not soley web based companies. In the long run it will protect the Industry.

 

[Martin Duffy]

I must admit I can only see this as a positive move. That said, I thought companies couldn't insist you only charge the price they set as rrp due to the competition laws? I'm sure some of the other big skincare companies got in trouble with this in the past?

 

[Lynne Baker]

I thought this too, Martin, but it seems that they can enforce the RRP. A couple of my suppliers have said either sell it at the RRP or we'll cancel your agreement.
Whenever I see online retailers selling it at less than RRP I send their details to the supplier. Ha!

 

[persianista]

You don't have to sell at rrp, only advertise it at rrp. You can give a discount at checkout.

 

[Martin Duffy]

I tried looking online to clarify this, and know that Decleor & a few others got in trouble (and fined) in France a few years ago for trying to insist on rrp or they'd remove the account. Personally, I don't see the issue with a skincare company trying to prevent their brand being used in price wars, and thereby devalued, but I'm fairly sure the competition commission doesn't allow it?

 

[Lynne Baker]

You don't have to sell at rrp, only advertise it at rrp. You can give a discount at checkout.

oooooo, nice one, Catlady!

 

[Martin Duffy]

You don't have to sell at rrp, only advertise it at rrp. You can give a discount at checkout.

Posted at the same time as me!! That makes sense.

 

[Rhubarb]

I do understand it, yes and the comments above are valid, but then another of my suppliers today said - "we have reviewed our website suppliers and have decided that unless you have 10 stores or more you cannot sell online any more!" Urrrr. I tried to explain that selling online was an incredibly important part of the decision making in taking a product line on at the salon and that how come since 2007 have I been able to do this and suddenly told "no". I asked them whether they were going to take it away from lookfantastic and HQ hair (I dont know but pretty sure they dont have 10 salons/shops) and they said that they wouldnt because of the volumes that they sell. I am not a bucket shop and I have always adhered to the rules set by each supplier. I want to be valued online as a reputable place to shop, get information, read articles - but I really dont rate these suppliers squeezing us small businesses out in favour of the space nk's and the look fantastics....! Surely you all agree that if a product is sitting on your shelves and isnt able to be on your website, its costing you alot of money shelf space wise??? I just think as small businesses we need to stand up for ourselves and not let the space nk's and the look fantastics become the asda, lidls' of the internet world.....I dont see some of the brands on the bigger websites sitting well side by side with the other brands, but its like global domination of the sites a one size HAS to fit all website.....!!

 

[persianista]

I can see that it could penalise small traders. However it is the traders that are selling through ebay and amazon that they are trying to stop. I only have 3 salons and they are all happy with my proposals.
I know a man who doesn't have a salon at all and has been making a living selling our well known ipod of skincare online. No training or product knowledge required!
I won't be going in as big as lookfantastic as I only have about 10 different suppliers, they have about 30, but I have been assured that they must comply with the new regs too as I asked this question direct.
I also spoke to L'oreal as they were selling pureology unauthorised. I am the first company officially authorised to sell it online. I also pointed out that they were using the metatag "cheap pureology" not gonna win friends at L'oreal doing that!

 

[essentia]

Hello
I just wanted to air my grievences. some of the suppliers I use have come up with new policies and procedures for the retailing of their stock online. Its going to cost alot of money (they want it set up on a seperate website). Whats the go with that. I thought that once you had bought a product, you could retail it in salon, online and that they can't just change the goal posts....thoughts please!

I know exactly how you feel as I have undergone similar problems but not the separate site issue though. I would not be inclined to take on a range that is only interested in volume as they do not tend to be interested in the individual therapist. However as has been mentioned companies are trying to protect the way their stock is sold and perceived and I agree with this as it does hurt the industry. We want pro products to be sold by pro's....:hug:

 

[persianista]

ALL companies want a high volume of sales. What they don't want is salons giving up their brand because of cheap online competition. We had clients come for face mapping then tell us they could get cheaper products through amazon. We decided to compete rather than switch brands but it was a close call. If we had been a small salon without the resources, I would have been changing brands.