Iris Smit, cofounder of The Quick Flick, speaks through InsideRetails about her strategies to penetrate into a new market: Singapore.

The Australian beauty products company The Quick Flick, which is well-known for its eyeliners, has chosen Singapore as its first destination to reach the market in Asia. The products of the brand are distributed through a joint effort with an e-commerce platform, Powella, and, it is also being discussed the possibility of using other platforms, so the customers in that region access the online brand stores directly.

This occurs just at the moment when Australian beauty products are becoming very popular in Singapore. This Asian country is a large partner, and Australian investors consider it a solid market to take their products not only to Southeast Asia but even to other markets.

The Australian beauty products are famous in the Asian region because they contain high-quality ingredients that, among other benefits, are good for taking care of the skin.

The cofounder of The Quick Flick, Iris Smit, says that the Asian continent is able to provide the industry with some different ingredients and that the respective regulations are recognised in the world for being strict regarding the protection from the sun rays and that the rules are fulfilled.

Smit also mentions that making available her products in Singapore was a natural step because people are looking for innovation and there is a gap that The Quick Flick can perfectly fill.

She adds that, however, it is not easy for the entrepreneurs in Australia to enter into a new geographical area, and that it is like a new beginning. It is necessary time and you have to be patient if you want to gain the trust of your new potential clients because the people in the new market do not know the products.

A key point to make the brand known in Singapore was the fact of using creators of original content.  Simply copying and pasting information is not enough. You have to find an effective way to create awareness of the brand in the new market. By entering in a different region, it is important to put the product in a completely different way from the one others do. You have to take your attention to places that can be unique for your products.

Brand such as The Quick Flick are using the social media content creator platform PopTribe.com to enter in new markets or to launch a new product line.  The process for brands at PopTribe is incredibly simple, cost and time effective and most importantly organic, meaning that the creators who resonate with a brand naturally, will be the ones they end up working with. PopTribe do it this way, because audiences are much savvier now, and know when their favorite creator is simply posting something because they’ve been paid to do so. This way of collaborating resulted in more engagement and sales for the brands.

The Quick Flick uses terms such as “glass skin”, for instance, because that’s what the local consumers ask for a beauty product for the skin. A sun filter 50+ is not important to the same extent. Over the years, the markets that have grown in Singapore have become more conscious of the concept of “clean beauty” or organic sustainable products that propose an ethical treatment to the environment.

The local consumers also prefer products containing Asian ingredients because they promote the market share for Korean and other Asian skincare brands. Today, nobody does what The Quick Flick does: to solve skin problems using products that are quick and easy to apply and that also serve several objectives, according to Smit.

She also mentions how lucky she was to have her patent approved for the eyeliner stamps after its launch. That was an advantage over the competition. Smit started her career in this business when she was 14 and coded websites. Then she created a store of vintage clothes on Etsy in 2017. Apart from being a young entrepreneur, she has a Bachelor in Science in Interior Architecture. In 2018 the entrepreneur appeared on the TV show Shark Tank. She also talks about her later difficulties dealing with the sudden business growth after that programme.

It was difficult to implement the systems and to have the appropriate people working at that fast growth level. During the pandemia, many retail partners had to close and, in spite of the e-commerce, there was a competitive scenario because there were more brands doing business on the Internet. The costs of advertising on the net were higher. It was difficult to face again the clients the way before the coronavirus. To have a strong business can take time and patience, but, according to Smit, if you have them and enjoy the process of building, it pays the bills.

Trusting herself and her instincts represents a challenge for the young entrepreneur she has to face in order to make her business grow. To make this happen, a strategy of The Quick Flick has been the inclusion of more beauty products, like a makeup erase pen, a 2-in1 eyeliner and a lash-adhesive pen. The brand also launched two more products for the skin.

After The Quick Flick, its founder started a second brand called “Beauty Fridge”, with millionaire sales.

Although the main category of the brand are eye products, Smit explains that she intends to go further to other lines considering brow and lips. The brand is also producing mascaras that will be launched next year.

The brand, which has already reached the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan, is ready now to succeed in Singapore.

Iris Smit, cofounder of The Quick Flick, speaks through InsideRetails about her strategies to penetrate into a new market: Singapore.