HSN’s Book on Beauty

During the past two decades, HSN has moved from a fringe player in the beauty industry to a powerhouse. In that time, HSN has grown from a seller of just a handful of brands to more than 60 and now offers a range of products in a range of categories, includingaolor cosmetics, skin care, hair care, nail care, beauty tools, bath and body and fragrance categories.

More surprising, just six years ago, 70% of HSN’s airtime was dedicated tofour beauty brands,” said Olum, who named some of HSN’s current best-selling brands as Serious Skin Care, Perlier, Signature Club A and Your Best Friend, which are all exclusive to the network, as well as Lancôme, Shiseido, Wei East, Boscia, Carol’s Daughter and Benefit.

Most surprising, women are purchasing fragrances from HSN without every trying them! For example, in July 2010, Mary J. Blige’s My Life fragrance sold 60,000 units in six hours, while in November, 2009, Sean Combs sold out I Am King scent in just one hour, prompting the network to cancel its scheduled second hour of programming. More recently, in July 2011, Jennifer Lopez sold more than 51,000 units of her Love and Light scent in six hours of air time, while Eva Longoria’s offering, Evamour, sold more than 8,000 units in two hours in March 2012.

How is HSN so successful in selling products that women haven’t even tried? Network execs say its a combination ofstorytelling, education, accountability and authority that gains consumers’ trust. Now, HSN will employ that same strategy to bulk up its hair care business and continue to expand its skin care business.