With seemingly every brand competing for the attention of Gen Z and young millennials or, in the case of luxury, appealing to boomers, a demographic white space has emerged for brands that speak to Gen X. Born between 1965 and 1980, Gen X spends significantly morethan other generations, shelling out about 44% more than baby boomers and 18% more than Gen Z, while representing only 19.8% of the US population. Gen Xers saw a 50% increase in their net worth during the pandemic, which was higher than any other generation. Despite the data, Gen X remains largely overlooked by the beauty industry.
Meet 213Deli, a text message-based curation concept built by IPSY veterans Corey Weiss, Nicole Collins, and Jules Camposano to disrupt retail and capture the Gen X beauty opportunity. Gen Xer's themselves, this founding team innately understands how to serve this largely underserved generational cohort.
"Gen X spends more money on personal care than any other generation. Read that again. That means Gen X takes great care of themselves and has the money needed to invest in personal care," Collins said. "More than half of Gen Xers feel overlooked by brands in marketing because they are, in fact, overlooked. Most beauty brands are not using models that are in their forties, even when they're selling products that help reduce fine lines and wrinkles."
The branding of 213Deli plays into nostalgia with a witty, sharp sense of humor. Speaking about the concept, Collins shared, "The name of the business itself is cheeky. It's a nod to our LA roots. 213 is the original Los Angeles area code, and a deli is a store selling a variety of great stuff. Some classics. Some new things you haven’t tried before. It’s a fun place to fill up with goodness, and you always leave feeling happy. We believe that's going to resonate with consumers."
The Mobile Native Concept
When Corey shared his love of Gary V's wine text, there was an ah-ha moment for 213Deli. Collectively the founding team felt beauty retail was ripe for disruption. SMS marketing isn’t new, but 213Deli is one of the first “mobile-native” retail concepts to emerge in the category.
Gartner data supports the opportunity. Americans check their phones an average of 96 times per day, about once every 10 minutes. 98% of text messages are read versus 20% of emails, making text a far superior way to connect with consumers. Texts have a 98% open rate with an average response time of 90 seconds.
Gen X comprises parents and people in the workforce short on time and looking for ways to save time. They’re not scrolling through TikTok for hours every day like Gen Z. They have money to spend and welcome expert advice. They prefer to cut through the noise and receive product recommendations from sources they can trust and act upon. 213Deli is making a bet on making shopping for beauty easy, bypassing the need to drive to a physical store or clicking through a website and reading reviews to figure out what to buy.
Collins has been a merchant in beauty for over a decade and will lead the merchandising at 213Deli, working closely with a small, trusted group of makeup artists, hair stylists, estheticians, doctors, and seasoned beauty editors on finding the best of the best while keeping it fun.
In today's crowded beauty landscape, there is something inherently interesting about a multi-brand concept based on discovery. Collins said of the merchandising strategy, "There are 52 weeks in a year, and we're dropping one product every week, so curation is the name of the game. To win, we have to know our customer well, and it helps that we are the target customer."
Discounting is not part of the business strategy. 213Deli believes unique incentives and interesting drops will drive conversion and keep customers interested long term. Customers will only be sent a text notifying them of a new drop. Collins said, "You'll never know what's going to pop up. Trust will be key. When customers realize that every drop is great and the messaging is funny but informative and trustworthy, they're going to tell their friends."
How It Works
Each week 213Deli will send an SMS with a limited-edition beauty and grooming drop. Customers will make an impulse purchase or they won't. Purchasing is frictionless. Credit cards and shipping addresses are safely tied to each consumer's phone number, so all they have to do to buy is say yes and text 1, 2, or 3 (the number of units they want to buy), and they get a tracking number for their shipment.
Each drop will be supported by editorial content on the 213Deli.com website that drive sales to the brand's website, and accompanied by great recommendations with experts sharing why they love it with their friends, fans, followers.
The concept of a content-driven beauty curator fills a particular need in today's beauty landscape, where there are more brands and products with fewer authentic sources and a decline in the relevance of beauty influencers.
Collins said, "Ultimately, the products and content will speak for themselves. We'll gain trust from a small group of early adopters and they'll tell their friends and those friends will tell their friends. Eventually people will see that everything we talk about really is the very best. We're running a marathon, not a sprint."
