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Beth Bewley and her husband Don, hairstylists and successful salon owners, moved from Cleveland to San Diego to found Eufora International, a professional hair care brand, over 20 years ago. From the beginning, the brand has focused on building relationships with salons and their staff to meet their needs. In line with this business model, it was not sold at retail stores such as drugstores, supermarkets, and department stores, but was sold exclusively to salons. A large part of the brand’s positioning lies in its combination of high-quality, all-natural ingredients, a quality that salon professionals and their customers value.
Euphora
Bewley emphasizes the importance of Eufora’s relationship with salons and the importance of providing salons with quality products. she said: Products are sold exclusively to consumers through independent salons. In addition to premium products, Euphora offers salon professionals advanced education in precision cutting, coloring, and business education to help stylists and owners succeed financially in their businesses. The educational programs offered by the company also support salon owners by providing information on leadership, financial benchmarks, marketing and staff development.
Euphora
When her beloved husband and business partner Don passed away in 2015, Bewley decided to stay on as CEO and owner. Eufora continues to grow and expand into international markets including several countries in Asia, Europe and South America. But in the past decade, Bewley has started seeing and hearing reports of her Eufora products being offered online. They are usually offered as outright counterfeits via Amazon or via the gray market (i.e. legitimate products but diverted from legitimate distribution channels). Concerned about protecting the reputation of her products from salon owners and customers, Bewley decided to actively stop these practices and tackle the issue head-on, investigating all of her illegal Amazon sellers. We set up a dedicated team to contact them and request their removal. Her Eufora products from the site, whether counterfeit or not.
Bewley believes that the rise of Amazon and other online retailers has exacerbated gray marketing of hair care products and that it is having a detrimental effect. consumer. Salons rely heavily on profits from retail sales to ensure the profitability of their small business. In general, salons have no retail sales and operate on poor profit margins. While salons build brand reputations in salons, online gray market product sellers take advantage of salon brand endorsements. (Theft) is obtained and damages our reputation from salons and consumers.
Bleach & Brown Beauty and Barber Shop
Counterfeiting is even more of an issue for Eufora, as low-quality copies damage the brand’s reputation. Bewley said: These products are potentially unsanitarily packed and may be contaminated with harmful bacteria and molds that can cause serious reactions. She says that loyal customers can often easily discern differences in quality, and some even post reviews stating that counterfeit products purchased are not the same as salon-bought ones.
Eufora’s efforts to track violators often ended up with bogus addresses when attempting to deliver suspension letters to violators, and sellers simply created new accounts under different names. Bewley said some stopped selling the product in response to the letter, while others didn’t. Bewley believes that protecting the quality of his products is so important that he will not stop pursuing it. But she wants Amazon to be more proactive in stopping the practice. The famous saying, “With great power comes great responsibility,” is something Amazon needs to embrace. ”
According to Bewley, Amazon’s standard response to counterfeit or gray marketing complaints is:
“Amazon respects the right of manufacturers to enter into exclusive distribution agreements for their products. However, violation of such agreements does not constitute infringement of intellectual property rights. Enforcement of these agreements is a matter between manufacturers and retailers, and it is not appropriate for Amazon to assist in enforcement efforts.”
Bewley confirms that Amazon’s statement is true when it comes to the gray market. But she sees the problem this way: Amazon must recognize and accept its responsibility to consumers to ensure that shoppers on Amazon’s sites do not purchase contaminated or stolen goods. While most products such as electronics and other hard goods may not pose a threat to consumers, cosmetics and personal care products sold online through unauthorized sellers pose a threat to consumer safety. It can be intimidating. Buying products on Amazon that consumers ingest or wear from unauthorized third-party sellers is a very risky business. The product may be old, expired, contaminated, or tampered with. ”
As an additional measure to combat counterfeit goods, Eufora recently launched an e-commerce platform that provides a safe place for consumers to purchase products and helps prevent counterfeit goods from falling into the hands of loyal consumers. We launched the site. The company’s website continues to support salon professionals by asking buyers to specify salons to visit and distributing profits to salons.
Gray marketing has always been a murky legal area and counterfeiting is notoriously difficult to eradicate, but CEO Beth Bewley’s dissatisfaction with the process and her concerns over product quality and salon owner protections. Commitment is definitely admirable.
