Meet Haut Drops, a new, trend-focused TikTok Shop beauty store

A new beauty e-tailer just went live – literally.

Haut Drops, the first-of-its-kind e-tailer founded by beauty veteran Leslie Hall, will launch on Monday via TikTok Shop and hautdrops.com, aiming to capitalize on TikTok’s rapid trend cycle and create the “Drop “Culture to promote beauty in a new, brand collaborative way.

“If you look at gaming and if you look at streetwear or sneakers — there’s so much culture,” said Hall, who is also the founder and CEO of Iced Media, TikTok Shop’s first beauty agency partner, which sells brands like Dieux has board. Moroccanoil and more on the platform.

“There’s also this rich beauty culture, but more importantly you see brands building community in a transactional way. We believe we have an opportunity to build a community around a shared interest in beauty culture and we have identified this gap, which is about the uniqueness of a brand.” “The stores don’t offer the full shopping experience that is possible is,” she continued.

To that end, Haut Drops, which brought on board four brands at launch – Glow Recipe, Topicals, Caliray and Moroccanoil – aims to deliver monthly limited-edition drops inspired by TikTok’s beauty trends of the day (think slugging , cherry cola makeup, cortisol face). and the like) as well as broader, relevant cultural events (Fashion Week, Met Gala, the ever-viral Bama Rush season, etc.).

Each drop will feature a curated, multi-brand range of products that fit the corresponding trend, and starting in 2025, Hall plans to expand the drops to bi-monthly drops – then weekly drops later next year.

“We wanted to create a unique, limited-edition keepsake with every drop because we know there is this impulse-driven FOMO mindset in the TikTok shopper that makes these collectibles a huge opportunity,” Hall said.

The first drop will be a four-piece “Glow on the Go Jet Set” holiday package. Priced at $88, the set includes a mini bestseller from each of Haut Drops’ debut brands, packaged in a limited-edition yellow mini backpack.

“We often see great excitement from our customers about Glow Recipe launches and limited edition products. With Skin Drops, we strengthen that connection,” said Christine Chang, co-founder and co-CEO of Glow Recipe, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this month by bringing back temporarily discontinued favorites including Banana Soufflé Moisture Cream and Lip Pop and more .

Because Haut Drops handles all marketing, order fulfillment, and creator commission payments under one roof, a drop can go from conception to TikTok’s virtual shelves in as little as three to seven days.

“Haut Drops’ ultimate goal is to be the top destination for shoppable beauty trends on TikTok,” said Hall, who envisions Haut Drops as a kind of “top for beauty”; We want to establish ourselves as a household name that represents authority on beauty trends, not just a place to buy things.”

Since officially launching its shopping integration in the US in September 2023, TikTok Shop has become the ninth-largest beauty retailer in the country, according to NIQ, which reports that TikTok Shop is ranked second in the UK – where the retail division was founded years earlier lies.

According to Statista, social commerce accounted for 18.5 percent of U.S. e-commerce sales in 2023 — nearly doubling since 2020 and expected to reach even higher in the coming years. Still, many brands have been hesitant to join TikTok Shop, some for fear of cannibalizing their other sales channels or because, particularly for prestige and luxury brands, they are unwilling to partake in the discounts that often drive sales on the platform.

However, since a brand doesn’t have to have its own TikTok store to join Haut Drops, Hall wants to provide a “solutions-focused approach” for those brands that want visibility on the platform without setting up their own store.

“TikTok Shop uniquely combines America’s leading entertainment platform with the technology that makes consumers’ shopping experience easier in ways never before possible,” Hall said. “With Skin Drops, we want to address the way consumers shop through a multi-brand range of products that are combined to achieve a specific look or regimen.”