Post-purchase personalization: How does it help skincare brands to reduce returns and refunds?
Hyper-personalization is a necessity of today’s e-commerce industry because it helps businesses to build a stronger and more trustworthy bond with their customers by offering them tailored solutions according to their needs and preferences. Due to this, the skincare industry has seen a shift from generic skincare products to individualized formulations tailored to specific skin concerns and lifestyles, which can be done with the help of the AI-based skin analysis tool and virtual try-on.
According to the global skincare market statistics, the customized skincare market value has increased from USD 31.6 billion in 2025 to USD 66.6 billion in 2035, which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.8%. It shows how providing customers with personalized marketing strategies after making an online purchase will help the beauty and skincare industry to grow and reach a wider audience while reducing their product return rate, with increasing customer trust and satisfaction towards the brand.
But have you ever wondered how the concept of post-purchase personalization works for brands and how it also helps them to reduce their product returns by helping their customers select the most suitable skincare products according to their needs? In this blog, I will help you understand these two concepts for a skincare business, along with their importance and benefits. Let’s get started!
Reasons that lead to refunds after checkout for skincare brands
Before studying the benefits and importance of post-purchase personalization for a skincare brand or business, it is important to understand the reasons behind increasing returns after checkout, because it will help you to clearly understand the problem and implement the right post-purchase strategies. There are several reasons why a skincare brand gets multiple refund requests after checkout, including product dissatisfaction and incompatibility, information and marketing gaps, logistical and fulfillment issues, and consumer behavior and policy issues.
Due to these reasons, several skincare brands get refund requests from their customers after completing the checkout process, which can have a great impact on the market value and growth of the skincare industry. In this section, I will provide you with a brief overview of these reasons and how these issues can impact the brand’s value in the market for the particular product or service.
1. Product dissatisfaction and incompatibility
One of the most common reasons for increasing product refunds in the skincare industry is product dissatisfaction and incompatibility, which can lead to decreased sales, increased returns, and more.
It can be difficult for the brand to cope with these types of returns because they can also have an impact on their market value and reputation as customers make the wrong product selection or the formula fails to meet their expectations.
2. Information and marketing gap
Another reason behind the refunds of skincare products is the information and marketing gap, which can be raised due to inaccurate or misleading information that brands publish on their website or due to poor-quality photos and misleading descriptions.
Apart from this, it can also arise due to a lack of transparency of the information related to the ingredients used in the products, which can also lead to allergic reactions or offering customers products that have a short shelf life or are close to the expiration date.
3. Logistical and fulfillment issues
Logistical issues are another major factor due to which skincare brands and businesses experience various refund requests after checkout, because sometimes they get damaged products or wrong items due to shipping or transit issues.
It can also arise because brands fail to deliver products on the delivery date, or customers receive products after the delivery date, which sometimes results in refusal or “return to sender” for time-sensitive products.
4. Consumer behavior and policy issues
Another major factor due to which skincare brands experience skincare refunds is customer behavior or policy issues, which can arise due to buyer’s remorse from not researching well about the product and its ingredients.
The brand can also experience it due to the uncertainty of shade or product mismatch, as customers lack the ability to accurately try or visualize products during virtual shopping while making an online purchase, which sometimes leads to making low-confidence decisions and cancelling purchases post-checkout.
What is post-purchase personalization, and how does it help skincare brands?
Post-purchase personalization is a marketing strategy in which a skincare brand or business opts to build a stronger connection with its customers by practicing communication, offering tailored product recommendations, and providing them with experiences through emails or messages. It can be done through various ways and techniques, such as offering customized routines, tailoring personalized emails, or curating skincare samples, which are based on the customer’s specific skin concerns and past purchases after they have already bought a product.
With the help of the post-purchase personalization marketing strategies, the brand can transform its standard transactions into personalized relationships, which will help it to reduce buyer remorse and foster long-term loyalty. Apart from that, it also helps skincare brands and businesses to reduce their product refunds after checkout because it helps their customers to select the most appropriate products according to the needs of their skin.
How does it help skincare brands?
- Increases retention and loyalty: It helps skincare brands to increase their customer retention and loyalty rate by providing them with personalized shopping experiences that help them to feel recognized and valued, while encouraging them to return to the online or offline store for future purchases.
- Boosts customer lifetime value: With the help of post-purchase personalization strategies, businesses can boost their customer lifetime value by offering them recommendations for complementary products, including a serum to match a previously purchased cleanser, which will help the brand to increase average order value and encourage their customers to reorder from their website or app in the future.
- Reduces product returns: It helps businesses to reduce product return rates by helping their customers get personalized education and usage tips for the particular products, so they can understand and know how to use products correctly before making any purchase, which will help them reduce their dissatisfaction and the possibility of product returns.
- Enhances brand reputation: It helps the skincare brand to provide its customers with a customizable post-purchase journey by offering them personalized follow-ups, which they can use to build a premium, attentive, and caring brand image.
- Improves product education: It also helps businesses to provide their customers with detailed information about their products by tailoring content to help their customers understand their skin and the products, which will help the brand become a trusted and expert partner rather than just a vendor.
How to reduce online returns for the skincare industry?
When it comes to understanding how to reduce the online skincare returns for a skincare product, brands or businesses have to perform lots of modifications in their marketing strategies because it will help them to consider the needs of their customers while offering them the best products. They can opt for various strategies, including providing sample-sized products to test suitability, using AI-driven quizzes for personalized product recommendations, and understanding honest user reviews for product modifications, which will help them reduce the refunds and returns of skincare products.
Skincare brands can reduce their refunds and returns by helping their customers make more informed and confident purchase decisions by improving product transparency through detailed ingredient lists, offering high-quality imagery, and providing virtual shade-matching tools. Therefore, to help you reduce the skincare returns and refunds, I will provide you with detailed information on some key strategies that you can use to reduce the product returns and refunds while building stronger and more trusted relationships with your customers.
1. Product transparency and education
- Detailed descriptions: It will help the skincare brand to provide its customers with product transparency by offering them a detailed description of ingredient lists, along with their concentration levels and skin-type suitability, which will help them to select the most suitable products while preventing allergic reactions or wrong product choices.
- Accurate visuals: Skincare brands can provide their customers with accurate visuals of their products on their e-commerce website or app by publishing high-resolution and zoomable photos or using 360-degree views and videos, which will help them to showcase the texture, consistency, and application of the product to help their customers understand the products more efficiently.
- Virtual try-ons and quizzes: It will help businesses and brands to reduce their refunds and returns by allowing their customers to virtually try different products by using AR virtual try-ons or AI-driven skin analysis quizzes, which will help them to select and match products according to their specific skin tones and concerns.
2. Pre-purchase experience improvements
- Sample program: To provide customers with a personalized experience, businesses can provide them with the facility to purchase travel-sized products or offer them sample versions of their products, which they can use before committing to full-sized products, so that they can reduce the possibility of "wrong formula" returns.
- Educational content: It will help the brand to make their audience more educated about their products by offering them detailed tutorials, FAQs, and influencer user-generated content (UGC), which will help them to demonstrate how to use products correctly and educate them on how to select the most suitable products according to their skin types and features.
- Proactive support: Skincare brands and businesses can use the live chat feature or integrate the consultation service option on their e-commerce website or app, which will help their customers get more proficient answers to their questions about ingredients or routines before checkout, before making final purchase decisions.
3. Operational and policy changes
- Quality control: It helps skincare brands and businesses to implement strict, pre-shipment quality checks to avoid shipping damaged or broken products, which will help them to provide their customers with better services and timely shipments while reducing logistical issues.
- Clear return policies: Stating and writing clear return policies on the e-commerce website or app will help customers to understand the return policy more accurately and proficiently, which will help the brand to build a clear understanding of their products and help customers to easily find and understand them.
- Incentivize exchanges: To reduce product returns and refunds, skincare brands can also encourage product exchanges over refunds by offering their customers free return shipping only for exchanges or providing instant exchange options, which will help their customers to opt for better and more suitable products.
How does the skin analysis tool help users have smarter post-purchase experiences?
The skincare industry has been experiencing product refunds and returns for online purchases because its audience fails to explore products completely due to a lack of a feel and touch experience. Therefore, they fail to make an informed decision during online purchase or remain uncertain about the product’s ingredients, consistency, and usage, which can increase the product refunds for the brand.
To reduce the return rate for the skincare products, brands and businesses can use the AI-based skin analysis tool that will help their customers to make more informed and confident purchasing decisions by enabling them to build a customized skincare routine with the most suitable products and ingredients. In this section, I will help you understand how a skin analysis tool helps businesses to provide their customers with better post-purchase experiences while reducing their product returns via online channels and platforms.
1. Objective progress tracking
It helps skincare brands to provide their customers with measurable results by enabling them to perform periodic scans to track skin health improvement over time, such as decreased acne marks, reduced fine lines, and even skin tone.
It also allows them to perform a side-by-side comparison of their skin condition by using before and after images or provide them with heatmaps to help them understand where these products are working by offering visual proof of efficacy.
2. Tailored and dynamic recommendations
By using the skin analysis tool on the e-commerce website or app, skincare brands and businesses can provide their customers with personalized and dynamic skincare product recommendations, which are based on their changing skin conditions due to climate, seasonal shifts, or lifestyle factors.
It will help their customers to build a synergistic skincare routine by suggesting a complete skincare routine with complementary products, such as cleanser, serum, and moisturizer, which they can use to make sure that products work together for maximum efficacy.
3. Enhanced brand engagement and loyalty
It helps businesses to provide their customers with an engaging and immersive shopping experience by offering them a guided 24/7 virtual expert or assistance using advanced AI algorithms, allowing them to check their skin from home without needing an immediate in-person dermatologist appointment.
Apart from that, it also offers personalized support to customers by helping brands to perform data-driven follow-ups based on their scan and purchase history, which will help them to lower refunds and foster their trust in the brand.
4. Increased personalization
It helps businesses and brands to provide their customers with a personalized shopping experience by offering them advanced tools, such as SkinGPT, which they can use to simulate how their skin will look after using certain products, which will also help them to visualize results before making a repurchase.
Apart from that, it will also provide relevant results for people of the same age and gender, which will help them compare the results with peers in the same age group so that they can tailor benchmarks of the skin health metrics accordingly.
Benefits of using post-purchase personalization beyond refunds
Opting for post-purchase personalization strategies will help a skincare company in multiple ways because it acts as a strategic driver of long-term loyalty, increased revenue, and brand advocacy. Apart from that, it also helps skincare brands and businesses to improve their marketing strategies by using customer data to tailor interactions after the initial transaction, which can transform a one-time buyer into a repeat customer.
In this section, I will help you understand how using post-purchase personalization strategies will benefit the skincare brands and businesses, which will also help them to improve their market value and make stronger relationships with their customers.
1. Increased retention and customer lifetime value
It helps businesses to improve their customer experiences by offering them tailored product recommendations through emails and messages, along with complementary products, which will increase the likelihood of future purchases among their customers.
It will also help businesses to encourage repurchases among their customers by offering them timely follow-ups through replenishment reminders for skincare products and consumables, which will keep their brand at the top of customers' minds.
2. Enhanced brand trust and reduced anxiety
Using post-purchase personalization strategies will help skincare brands and businesses to enhance customer trust and loyalty towards their products by enabling them to track their order in real time through order updates and notifications, which will also strengthen customer-seller relationships.
Apart from that, it will also help brands to reduce buyer’s remorse by offering them tailored content through product usage tips, care instructions, and styling guides, helping them to reassure themselves that they made the right choice while increasing their likelihood of purchasing more products from the website or app.
3. Increased revenue and average order value
It helps businesses to improve their revenue and average order value by enabling them to use customer data so that they can suggest relevant products to their customers after making a purchase, based on their previously viewed and purchased history.
It will also help them to provide their customers with exclusive offers of personalized discount codes or early access to the latest or new collections, encouraging them to make repeated purchases on the website or app while increasing their revenue through personalization.
4. Improved customer satisfaction and feedback
Using the post-purchase personalization strategies will help skincare brands and businesses improve their customer satisfaction rate by offering them personalized feedback requests instead of generic surveys, which will help them gather detailed insights and showcase how they value customers’ opinions.
Apart from that, it will also help them to collect data from post-purchase interactions by helping them identify recurring issues, which will allow them to make improvements in product descriptions, quality, and the shipping process.
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Different strategies to use the post-purchase personalization method effectively to reduce skincare refunds
Using post-purchase personalization in skincare will help the brand or business to educate and support their customer proactively, which will help them to significantly reduce return rates. It will help skincare brands and businesses to provide their customers with a personalized experience by ensuring that the product is used correctly and aligns with their skin type.
With the help of effective post-purchase personalization strategies, businesses can tailor their customer communications based on user data, such as skin type, concerns, and past purchases, which will help them reduce their skincare product refund rates. In this section, I will provide you with some key strategies that will help businesses to use post-purchase personalization so that they can reduce skincare refunds on their e-commerce website or app.
1. Personalized educational content
Using post-purchase personalization strategies will help skincare brands and businesses to provide their customers with educational content on product usage, which will help them to reduce product refunds and returns because it reduces the lack of information about product application and minimizes irritation caused by wrong layering and over-application.
Apart from that, it will help them to send automated and personalized emails and SMS within 24-48 hours of delivery, which their customers can use to see how to use the product effectively and fit it into their current skincare routine.
2. Personalized skin tracking and progress monitoring
Skincare brands and businesses can provide their customers with a personalized skin tracking portal and progress monitoring interface, which they can use to understand their skin type and concerns while helping them store this data to provide them with tailored advice.
It will also help customers to visualize the product application on their face with the help of the AR try-ons or using the skin analysis tool to track skin changes while offering them dynamic product recommendations according to the changes that occur in their skin due to weather conditions.
3. Contextual and data-driven replenishment
With the help of post-purchase personalization strategies, one of the things that brands can use is sending their customers tailored emails and messages instead of generic reorder emails, which will work as data-driven reminders based on the average consumption time of the product to prevent users from purchasing a new or unknown product out of desperation.
It will also help businesses to provide their customers with tailored advice on adjusting routines as seasons change, such as switching from a light moisturizer to a heavier one in winter, which will help them to start using products according to their skin needs and requirements.
4. Tailored feedback
With the help of post-purchase personalization strategies, businesses and brands can get data-driven and tailored feedback from their customers by sending them automated personalized emails and messages after a few days of delivery, in which they can ask for their reviews about the product and use them to perform product development.
It will also help to understand the user struggles with their products by surveying so that they can resolve the issues and improve their products or offer their customers personalized alternatives or more suitable products, providing them with a positive brand interaction and experience.
Introducing GlamAR: Your go-to solution to reduce refunds and use personalized methods
GlamAR is an AR- and AI-based solution provider for beauty, cosmetic, and makeup brands and businesses, which helps them to provide their customers with a personalized and interactive shopping experience by enabling them to select products according to their skin tone, type, and concern. To provide their customers with a personalized shopping experience, skincare brands and businesses can use the combination of both virtual try-on and skin analysis tools on their e-commerce website or app.
With the help of these two tools, they can reduce their product returns and refunds by helping their customers to make more informed and confident decisions during virtual shopping because it helps them explore products using interactive features, such as AR-based try-ons, 360-degree models, 3D models, and skin analysis. It will help them to understand the application of the product while visualizing the product with the help of 3D overlays, which will help the skincare and beauty brands to bring products to life through rotation, zooming, and spinning features.
By using GlamAR’s SDK on the e-commerce website or app, you can reduce your product return rates up to 40% because it helps customers make informed decisions with the help of enhanced realism, which will help the brand to foster their trust and loyalty while boosting their satisfaction rate. Another reason for using this SDK is that it helps businesses to boost user engagement by 94% and drive more conversions by 45%, which will also help them to enhance their market value and growth, leading to higher add-to-cart rates and reduced abandonment while keeping users engaged with the help of 3D product interactions.
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Impact of using GlamAR’s tool to reduce refunds for the skincare brand
With the help of GlamAR’s AI-powered tools, skincare brands and businesses can integrate the AI-based skin analysis tool and virtual try-on on their e-commerce platforms, which will help them to significantly reduce refunds. It will help them to provide their customers with the confidence to make online purchases of skincare products by eliminating their uncertainty and aligning their expectations with product performance.
Apart from that, it also provides users with the facility of "try-before-you-buy" experiences and personalized recommendations, which will help their customers select products that genuinely suit their skin types and concerns. In this section, I will help you understand the impact of using these tools and how they will help businesses to reduce their refund rates for their skincare products.
1. Reduced product returns
Skincare and beauty brands can reduce their product return rates by integrating AR try-on and AI-driven personalized recommendations into their e-commerce platforms, which will help them reduce their uncertainty by enabling them to visualize products in real time with the help of 3D models and AR try-ons.
It will help the brand to provide their customers with a personalized and confident purchase journey while reducing their returns by up to 40%, which will also help their customers to make more informed decisions while reducing their uncertainty about product mismatch or ingredient unsuitability.
2. Accurate skin analysis
By using GlamAR’s AI-based skin analysis tool, skincare brands can allow their customers to perform a comprehensive skin analysis of more than 14 skin conditions, including acne, wrinkles, pigmentation, and hydration, which can be done by using the device’s camera.
Apart from that, it also helps businesses to provide their customers with tailored product recommendations that will help them to make purchases of the most suitable products while reducing the likelihood of returns or refunds post-purchase.
3. Virtual try-on for skincare and cosmetic products
With the help of GlamAR’s virtual try-on, skincare brands and businesses can provide their customers with the ability to explore and try products with different shades, textures, and patterns on their faces while offering them an immersive shopping journey.
It allows users to see how products look on their face by using the AR try-ons and 3D overlays, which will help the brand to reduce buyers' uncertainty and the likelihood of product returns due to shade mismatch.
4. Enhanced customer confidence
It helps businesses to foster customer trust and loyalty by enabling them to explore products from different angles and perspectives with the help of 360-degree viewers and 3D product visualizers, which will offer them engaging features, such as rotate, spin, and zoom.
Apart from that, it will also help users to simulate how a product will look on their face with real-time visualization, which will help customers to make purchases with more confidence and satisfaction while reducing buyer's remorse.
Case study: How did Foxtale use GlamAR’s SDK to reduce product returns and build personalized user experiences?
Foxtale is a customer of GlamAR that is using their AI-based skin analysis tool on their e-commerce website or app, which helps them to provide their customers with a tailored shopping experience for skincare products. It helps the brand to provide its customers with personalized product recommendations by enabling them to scan their skin health for more than 14 skin health metrics, including fine lines, acne, wrinkles, and more.
With the help of this skin analysis tool, Foxtale has built a stronger connection with its customers by enabling them to understand their skin better and connect those insights to their shopping decisions. Apart from that, it also helped the brand to overcome its challenges, such as the skin literacy gap, decision paralysis, and understanding the missing “why,” which helped them to turn their browsing audience into valued customers.
The skin analysis tool also helped users build their skincare routine by helping them select the most suitable alternatives for their skin, which will reduce the trial-and-error concept while helping the brand to decrease product returns and refunds. Therefore, using the skin analysis tool helped Foxtale in multiple ways, including reduced returns and stronger customer relationships, while providing them with a personalized shopping experience virtually.
Conclusion
In this era of personalization, providing customers with generic marketing is not enough, as it doesn’t help skincare brands and businesses to leave their impact and encourage customers to make another purchase. Therefore, using personalized strategies after checkout or purchase helps online sellers and brands to build a stronger bond with their customers while enabling them to visit the store again and make another purchase.
Apart from that, using post-purchase personalization also helps brands and businesses to reduce their product returns and refunds by sending their customers tailored emails and messages, which can be created by using data from their previously used or purchased history. Brands can also use GlamAR’s skin analysis tool and virtual try-on to reduce their product returns and refunds by helping their customers make more informed purchases during virtual shopping, according to their skin tone, texture, and condition.
AI skin analysis tools reduce product returns by identifying skin types and concerns like acne or dryness and matching them to suitable products via selfie scans, which will help the brand to minimize mismatches, dissatisfaction, and refunds. Apart from that, it also provides customers with personalized recommendations that boost their confidence during virtual shopping while helping the brand to lower return rates through precise and data-driven guidance.
Skincare brands can use the skin analysis tool for post-purchase personalization by prompting the tool for follow-up scans so that users can track their skin progress, adjust their routines, and be suggested complementary products or exchanges. It also helps brands to integrate the tool with CRM software and email marketing apps to provide their customers with personalized advice, which will help them turn potential refunds into loyalty by using progress reports and incentives.
With the help of the skin analysis tool, skincare brands and businesses can boost customer loyalty and trust by delivering them personalized and trackable skin insights that show real improvements, while fostering their trust and encouraging them to make repeat purchases. In addition to that, it also helps businesses to increase their customer retention rate by offering them adaptive recommendations, higher engagement, and satisfaction, which will elevate their lifetime value through sustained relationships and reduced churn.
Yes, brands can use the AI skin analysis tool for both online and offline stores because it will help them to bridge the gap between online and offline shopping experiences for their customers. It can be used for online stores via web-based selfie uploads on Shopify sites, and in-store with devices like Clarins' AI Skin Observer mirrors or sensors, which will help the brand to analyze parameters like hydration and wrinkles so that they can enhance consultations digitally and physically for seamless experiences.
With the help of the skin analysis tool, skincare brands and businesses can expect a strong return on investment from higher conversions, higher average order value, and reduced product return rates, which can be done with the help of the GlamAR SDK because it provides them with a personalized experience, along with quick Shopify integration, while helping them to boost their sales and foster customer loyalty.
AI skin analysis helps skincare brands to improve their products by offering them aggregated and anonymized data on common concerns across diverse skin types, informing targeted formulations and R&D. It will also help them to enable predictive insights, reduce testing needs, and refine products, which are based on real consumer scans for better efficacy. AI skin analysis helps skincare brands to improve their products by offering them aggregated and anonymized data on common concerns across diverse skin types, informing targeted formulations and R&D. It will also help them to enable predictive insights, reduce testing needs, and refine products, which are based on real consumer scans for better efficacy.
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