Merit Beauty – the US minimalist beauty brand – is marking its fifth anniversary with fresh international expansion and three new launches that double down on its ethos of being a tri-axe brand for millennials and Gen X.
The make-up, skin care and fragrance company – which sees a higher proportion of millennial and Gen X customers versus the industry average – is bringing its ‘beauty with intention’ products to Italy and Spain on 10 February via its direct-to-consumer (D2C) channel due to demand.
The brand also aims to maintain its relevance in the long-term by doubling down on its minimalist ethos and only innovating in the beauty space where it is needed, instead of falling into the common pitfall at five years of feeling the need to pivot to stay buzzy.
Merit Beauty is known for its everyday products geared toward creating easy looks – which are housed in fashion-forward packaging – and has gone from strength-to-strength since its launch in 2021.
Staying focused on making products that are relevant to the consumer has been our greatest protection
On D2C, Merit Beauty has an average order value of more than US$100, and while its core customer is aged 30 to 45, the brand also sees the same proportion of visitors aged under 25 and over 55, showing that its anti-trend ethos is continuing to land during a time of overconsumption.
“What we have done so well in the past five years is stay incredibly focused on our consumer, which means that the larger macroeconomic trends that are seeing beauty slow down – the bit more hesitancy in purchasing – we are not seeing that,” says Aila Morin, Merit Beauty’s CMO.
“What our consumers see is our focus on everyday products that they will actually use, and that really resonates at a time [when] a lot of people are cutting back.
“And our focus on millennial and Gen X consumers means they are less impacted by these types of changes simply because they are more established – they have the economic stability to make changes and are deeply loyal.
“Last year, we had more baby boomers shop on our website than Gen Z, because we are inclusive in who we talk to and thoughtful about the message.
“But more than that, staying focused on making products that are relevant to the consumer has been our greatest protection.”
Merit Beauty's The Minimalist (£34) is sold every ten seconds online
Merit Beauty’s goal to dominate more of Europe
Moving into the Italian and Spanish beauty markets via its own website is a “strategic move”, explains Morin, so Merit Beauty can
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