Beauty samples rethought: from concept to app in just a few weeks
One size does not fit all. No more samples that nobody wants. samplistick created a concept to make beauty samples more sustainable. Lean, digital processes were created for the go-to-market to maximize customer experience.
samplistick was founded in 2021 by Daniela Mündler. The beauty startup is rethinking the “little sample” to solve a well-known problem in beauty retail: many “little samples” are handed out at checkout without asking, which are not used by customers at home and instead are thrown away. With samplistick, every customer receives individual, digitally labeled samples filled “on demand” into sustainable packaging at the point of sale.
The project at a glance
- Clear feature focus: In a workshop we determine the requirements and implement an initial prototype using Google Forms and Wordpress in just a few days.
- Short time-to-market: In 4 weeks we create an app with Flutter and Firebase that covers the core functionality.
- The pilot operation in selected stores, from Berlin (KaDeWe) to Tegernsee, provides quick insights.
- Sustainably good: The innovative and ecologically sustainable solution is supported, among others, by the German Federal Environmental Foundation.
Initial situation
At the start of the collaboration, samplistick already knew how to implement customized samples in the cosmetics industry. There was an elaborate vision and strategy, but no end-to-end implementation.
Instead of prefabricated samples in the store, samplistick allows customers to select and bottle individual samples of any fragrances, creams or other beauty products on site so that they can test them at home at their leisure. While the processes at the point of sale seemed largely clear, some detailed questions arose during the digital implementation: What does a process look like that is acceptable for both the seller and the customer? Do customers use their own devices? What data needs to be collected during the process? How should this data be used later? Without clear answers to such key questions, it is difficult to effectively limit development efforts to the areas that are really necessary.
Not least due to limited financial resources, the go-to-market risk should be minimized as much as possible and an approach should be chosen that is based on the status quo of modern product development: quickly obtain feedback from the market and real customers and incorporate it back into development, thereby obtaining answers to open questions and assumptions.
Solution
Working closely together, we proceeded in two phases.
Phase 1: Creating more security for digital processes
The first task was to bring more security to the digital processes with minimal technical effort. At the beginning, there was a joint review of the entire concept as part of a workshop, which then enabled clear story mapping by means of jobs-to-be-done and assumption mapping. Based on the results, an initial functional prototype was created within two days using the low-code solutions Paperform.co, Wordpress and Google Sheets. This enabled on-site bottling and later viewing of all the details of the desired sample. An initial test run was carried out in selected stores.
Phase 2: App development for beauty customers
After successfully confirming the core assumptions regarding technology and process, an app was developed in phase 2. As the application was to be used on customers' devices, support for iOS and Android was essential. Its cross-platform functionality was a key argument in favor of Flutter. This allowed native functions of the respective platform to be used while keeping development costs to a minimum. A backend for managing the recorded sample data and sending push notifications could also be kept to a minimum by using Firebase.
Result
samplistick is now available all throughout Germany in selected stores. The concept and implementation have been well received. Hypotheses such as “there are many customers without a cell phone” could be checked (in this case, less than 1 in 100 cases were affected). In addition, new insights were gained into how hurdles in the process should be overcome, for example in the case of download problems due to forgotten passwords for the app stores.
In the field, the physical sample container and the digital app complement each other to curb the problem of inappropriate disposable samples. Sustainability and digitalization go hand in hand.
As a result, not only does customer satisfaction increase, but retailers also have further opportunities to increase customer loyalty by cleverly combining offline and online channels.
Daniela Mündler
Founder, samplistick GmbH
"Thanks to the collaboration with codecentric AG, we were able to implement our solution directly at the point of sale after just four weeks of development. An initial prototype made it clear to everyone involved within the first few days what the core elements of samplistick are. Thanks to a methodically clear and value-oriented approach, we were able to focus on the essential elements and produce a maximum result with a minimum of resources."
Daniela Mündler
Founder, samplistick GmbH
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Stephan Hochhaus