When did we stop opening the windows of advent calendars to bring out a mini pack of moisturiser and banish the traditional chocolate bar? More and more cosmetic and beauty brands are jumping on the advent calendar bandwagon and selling their products in mini-tablets that allow them to seduce the consumer in a more attractive, cheaper way and with many more possibilities. 24, to be precise.
There is no exact date to determine the boom of these advent calendars, but it is true that from 2017 more and more cosmetic brands began to emerge that bet on this format. Nowadays, brands that don't have one are left behind. Even supermarkets and hypermarkets that have their cosmetic lines also have it, as is the case of Mercadona. Such has been the furore and expectation surrounding advent calendars that brands such as MiiN Cosmetics set up dates during the summer months when consumers and fans of Korean beauty products can get their hands on them through a pre-sale. "It's one of our strongest campaigns of the year. Our customers take the "calendar moment" very seriously because they look forward to it all year round and don't want to miss out. For us, it's the kick-off of the last quarter of the year, the most intense of all", the Korean cosmetics brand explains.
For the MiiN Cosmetics team, this was their sixth advent calendar and they are already working on next year's calendar. They value the Advent Calendar as a very attractive way for customers: "it's a great way to get started with a brand and try many things at once; after trying all the products it contains, they are clearer about what they want to invest in", says the team at the Korean cosmetics firm. MiiN recognises that in recent years there has been a fever for advent calendars and the number of people on waiting lists is growing, and that these products are available for less time: "this year we launched the calendars on 4 September and they sold out completely in 10 days. Half of the units that were on sale flew out during the first day of the pre-sale. The advent calendar campaign lasts all year round, at this stage of the year, in autumn, we are already starting to think about the packaging and the products, with all the logistics that this entails. The process takes longer at the beginning of the year".
The Marketplace Perfume's Club has even incorporated a landing page that is only dedicated to the sale of advent calendars. From Perfume's Club, they say that the advent calendar boom has increased in recent years and they perceive the interest of brands wanting to launch their own. "It has become a Christmas MUST product. It all started two years ago. As they are limited collections, the urgency to buy them is greater and they sell out quickly. You can see that many people are waiting for the moment when they start to sell out to get their favourite of the best brands," says Paula Ramis, Brand Manager of Perfume's Club. Ramis explains that this is a way for brands to show and offer consumers the chance to try the brands' most emblematic products in a cost-saving format and attract consumers to make their next purchase.
On TikTok, the influencers specialised in beauty content show how they open their calendars every day and show the products hidden behind the little window each day. The content creators take the opportunity to test the brands' products and recommend them to users, which is a very succulent marketing action, especially at a time when Christmas shopping is in full swing.
Although the first calendars were inexpensive alternatives, we can now find calendars that cost more than 320 euros, although we can always find some options that are more modest than others so that any beautyaddict can have the pleasure of discovering a different product during the 24 days of the traditional advent calendar within their reach.
What will the beauty industry do next to tempt and seduce the consumer?