How Does UX Affect Kylie Cosmetics

Davina Zhuo
Marketing in the Age of Digital
4 min readMar 5, 2020

As one of the fastest growing beauty brand, Kylie Cosmetics is an American cosmetics company founded and owned by Kylie Jenner. Unlike other beauty competitors, Kylie Jenner does not need to turn to a third party to promote her products. She is an ultimate influencer and she is using her own face to advertise the brand. One key to the boosting sales of Kylie’s products is the website UX. Kylie Cosmetics website UX has successfully driven a large traffic , which results in a good conversion rate.

Kylie Cosmetics by Kylie Jenner, Image from kyliecosmetics.com

Elements of Website Design that Make the Brand Thrives

The website UX of Kylie Cosmetics is useful. It has a clear purpose to drive people to purchase products in an efficient way. When I first opened the Kylie Cosmetics official website, there was a pop-up box asking me to leave my phone number to receive texts from Kylie, which allows continuous product advertising.

What matters most to users is that website “feels fast”. The website is user centered because, when I scrolled down the page, I could see clearly product pictures and information. The search bar is on top of the website, which gives users much convenience to search for products they want. It’s also obvious for me to find navigation menu on top of the website. Such design makes sure that users can complete their primary goal quickly and easily.

Also, the brand employs responsive design on mobile device, tablet and PC. A responsive website shows content based on the available browser space. I can access Kylie Cosmetic website on my phone easily and enjoy shopping on my handheld devices. On mobile device and tablet, the perfect size of clicking button and interface elements allowed me to tap easily and accurately. I could interact with a single touch, which helps me save a lot of efforts.

Kylie Cosmetics Stormi Collection, image from official website

“A Picture is Worth A Thousand

In celebration of Kylie’s daughter Stormi’s second birthday, Kylie Cosmetics Stormi Collection was launched on Valentine’s Day, February 14th, 2020. It was described as “full of butterflies”. On the official website, the image of Kylie holding Stormi transmits the message of Stormi collection restock. It hit me and made me feel warm. Also, the use of color is brilliant. Pink color is a warm and bright color. It is consistent with the fancy brand and allows me to have a more immersive and emotional experience.More importantly, the pink theme design really fits the Kylie Cosmetics brand image and personality. The background of product page was basically white, which helps me better access to product information. The whitespace between the product images gives Kylie’s website simple, clean and minimalist look.

Kylie Cosmetics Stormi Collection, image from official website

Fascinating but Not Enough

It’s a pleasure to use the website of Kylie Cosmetics since the features are quite clear. The design of the website aligns in harmony with the brand image and target audience. However, the design is not innovative enough from my point of view. Nothing surprised me when I opened the website both on desktop and mobile device. The design is not ground breaking and gives customers seamless opportunities to explore different products.

What’s more, there is no breadcrumb for me to locate where I am. I understand that Kylie’s Cosmetics only have limited products and there is no need to add breadcrumb. But when I scrolled down the page, I could not see what category I was in. As more products launched, the website could better incorporate breadcrumb to guide users and improves user experience.

Storytelling Adds More Inspiration

Kylie Cosmetics’ website has simplified menu items but the content lacks storytelling. As the youngest self-made billionaire, Kylie Jenner must have a lot of stories behind this brand. How did she come out of the idea of building a beauty brand? Why she used her baby Stormi as a new product name? The website could be improved through binding product information and Kylie’s personal experience and stories behind the brand. Users, especially young girls who are the target customers, would find it more inspiring and educating if they see more details and stories about the brand and the successful figure behind it.

Kylie Jenner shooting a Forbes cover, Image from forbes.com

According to SimilarWeb, the Kylie cosmetics website hit an 1.10million visitors on January 20th. However, compared to the numbers on December 19th, total visits have dropped 23.11%. Kylie Cosmetics is using AI to help conversion. Effective digital design especially the website UX helps the brand succeed and thrive. Proper messaging and concise branding are crucial for delivering brand stories and value to target customers. It’s time for Kylie Cosmetics to have a website UX breakthrough to drive performance.

Total Visits of Kylie Cosmetics Official Website, Image from SimilarWeb

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Davina Zhuo
Marketing in the Age of Digital

NYU Student, Marketing & Finance major, Learning Tools of Marketing, Digital Marketing, Stats of Marketing.