Challenge

Barefaced is all about trust and putting the customer’s best interest above all else. The brand already had a devoted following of customers who loved their products, but they wanted a better way to reward their loyal customers to bring them back, show real results from their customers to boost shopper confidence, and make one-on-one connections to stand out from competitors.

After the brand shifted to Shopify, they wanted to ensure that their customers had an optimized experience with the brand across their path to purchase.

Having great products also meant they were growing very fast. An explosive growth rate combined with a lean team made it crucial for them to seek out additional, expert guidance.

As they ideated on the Barefaced strategy, Brand Director Ashley Buckler says they kept the focus on leading with the customer experience instead of sales. “When you come at it with a mentality of service to your customers, the conversion will follow,” said Buckler.

Solution

After hearing great things from other businesses and from their prior experiences, Barefaced felt confident in choosing Yotpo as their tech partner. The brand was thrilled to launch loyalty, reviews, and SMS solutions with one provider, simplifying their tech stack. “We think about the customer journey as a holistic experience, and that means that loyalty ties in with SMS, which ties in with reviews, and they come together to form a beautiful roadmap,” says eCommerce Manager, Callie Tivnan.

As a small, fast-growing team, Barefaced turns to Yotpo’s eCommerce experts who can be in the weeds with them. “Yotpo strategists are thought partners who see potholes we may not have seen and opportunities we wouldn’t want to miss. Yotpo is now an extension of our team,” says Buckler. Barefaced also now has the confidence to set more informed business goals for the following year under Yotpo’s guidance. “Through our partnership with Yotpo, we've been able to establish effective KPIs. Having visibility to our own data to measure success has allowed us to become more intentional in setting future goals,” says Tivnan.

Barefaced wanted to establish long-term customer loyalty, as skincare’s business model requires an investment in products over a period of time to see results. The brand created a unique loyalty program experience to engage new and established customers alike. Working with Yotpo’s dedicated Loyalty Strategist helps them keep their loyalty incentives fresh, with monthly brainstorming sessions to create new and engaging rewards.

Continuing to invest in customer relationships, Barefaced gives shoppers confidence in their products by offering real-life examples of others with similar skin types. Smart Filters, which analyze reviews for details about skin type, age, and more, make it easy for customers to find products best suited to their needs. “We can say that our skincare works all day long, but when they can see a picture, or hear someone else’s real-life experience with [a product] — it sticks so much more in the customer’s mind,” said Tivnan.

Additionally, authentic before-and-after images are an essential part of building consumer trust. Barefaced uses Reviews incentives to increase image submissions from customers, enough to create a Before & Afters landing page that showcases their tremendous results.

Barefaced’s strategy leans into approachability, especially compared to other medical skincare brands in the industry. With SMS marketing, they send personalized, one-on-one messages to share updates and product drops. But, most importantly, Barefaced allows customers to text questions to certified skincare experts in real time. “The conversational messaging really brings our Skincare Specialists to life. It makes the brand feel more real and accessible, knowing that you’re talking to a real person on the other side,” said Tivnan.

The Yotpo platform enables Barefaced to share valuable data across tools and create hyper-relevant, high-converting customer experiences. For example, Barefaced rewards customers with loyalty points when they subscribe to SMS, and sends texts with timely point balance reminders and perks. They also segment campaigns to send exclusive deals and promotions to their top loyalty VIP tier. Holistically, the platform works to humanize their brand.

Results

Barefaced makes shoppers more confident in their purchases by using Reviews to create social proof. They also have built a highly engaged brand community with a 10.7% clickthrough rate on their compelling visual content — 3x the industry standard of 3.5%. Thanks to their engaged community, Barefaced sees a 4.72% order-to-review conversion rate (150% more than the industry benchmark).

“With reviews, you can see other users going through the same thing you’re going through. Maybe they’re the same age as you, or going through the same skin struggles as you. It builds that sense of community for our brand,” said Tivnan.

This has really paid off with bringing in net new shoppers. But, knowing customer acquisition is 5x more expensive for brands than retention, Barefaced focuses on creating the best experience for returning customers — and it’s paying off. “With Yotpo, our returning customer rate each week fluctuates from 75 to 85%, and I really attribute that to our amazing loyalty program, as well as the targeted approach we take with SMS marketing and email marketing,” says Tivnan.

Barefaced’s loyalty program drives a new level of engagement from customers. Loyalty redeemers’ repeat purchase rate averages 75%. Prioritizing customer experience over repetitive discounts is the key to Barefaced’s loyalty program's success. Loyalty redeemers are the brand’s most valuable customers with 69% higher revenue of redeemers than non-redeemers. To top it all off, Barefaced’s loyalty program alone drives 15.9x ROI — and counting.

Barefaced offers a more personalized, one-on-one conversation with their skincare experts through SMS. And with Yotpo SMS & Email's Click-to-Buy, the brand offers a simple path to purchase by sending customers straight to checkout with curated cart links. Two text campaigns currently boast over 99x ROI.

Yotpo SMS & Email's synergies with Loyalty & Referrals propel powerful engagements. Triggered messages that remind customers of their remaining loyalty points to spend have driven an incredible 253x ROI, with New VIP Tier texts driving 120x ROI as well.

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