How Beekman 1802 Tapped Tech to Unlock Customer Insights and Drive Skincare Sales

Small business takeaway:

• Beekman 1802, a goat milk–based skincare brand, shows how conversion rate optimization technology—tools that test what drives shoppers to buy—is reshaping digital commerce. The broader takeaway: small site changes can influence buying behavior, data is making customer insight more accessible to lean teams, and brand storytelling works harder when it appears where shoppers are already paying attention.

Sometimes the smallest adjustment can make a big change. 

When Ashley Dunn joined skincare brand Beekman 1802 last year as Senior Director of Digital, she brought big-brand expertise honed at companies like L'Oréal to elevate and optimize the brand's digital business. 

Eager to put new ideas into action, Dunn moved quickly to make the brand’s website look better and gain a richer understanding of how shoppers were interacting with the site. She was able to identify tweaks that could move them closer to purchase via conversion rate optimization technology (CRO) from Shoplift, making small cost-effective changes versus pricey web redesigns. The tweaks paid off: Beekman 1802 reaped gains including a 16% conversion rate boost.

Leveraging conversion rate optimization tech to identify opportunities that might otherwise be overlooked

The brand’s approach reflects a broader shift in digital commerce. As technology has become more accessible, brands can increasingly use real-time data, rapid experimentation, and CRO tools to identify opportunities that might otherwise be overlooked. Rather than relying on major site redesigns or intuition, even small brands can test individual elements of the customer journey. Results can be measured quickly, and changes can be made swiftly.

“You can have a strong opinion about what should work, but testing validates whether a change actually improves the customer experience,” Dunn said.

“I laid out my entire wish list of everything I wanted to do, and within a few weeks we had our first test live,” she said of the Shopify-powered shopping site. 

Beekman 1802 was able to look at everything from call-to-action wording to the placement of brand storytelling and pinpoint minor changes that produced measurable gains. 

One of the earliest tests involved a seemingly minor change. On the homepage, product call-to-action buttons originally read “Shop Now.” When clicked, however, shoppers were shown a quick product preview rather than being taken directly to a product page.

The team tested the existing “Shop Now” against “Quick View,” language that more accurately described what would happen when shoppers clicked.

The results were significant. The revised wording generated an 11% increase in click-through rates, a 16% increase in conversion rates, and a 10% increase in add-to-cart rates.

While the change was small, it addressed what digital marketers call friction—moments when the customer experience does not align with shopper expectations.

“When somebody clicks a button, it needs to clearly communicate what will happen next,” said Dunn. “Giving shoppers a better understanding of what to expect created a smoother experience.”

[Read more: Monetizing Differentiation: How Four Thriving Beauty Brands Are Winning With Distinct Brand Visions]

Maximizing shopper attention online: ‘telling the story the right way and in the right sequence’ yields a 10% conversion rate lift

Another test focused on Beekman 1802's brand story. The company is known for its goat milk–based formulations and its emphasis on kindness, but information about those values appeared near the bottom of the homepage where many visitors never saw it.

Using analytics, the team determined that many shoppers were not scrolling far enough to encounter the content. The company moved its brand messaging higher on the page, placing it within the first few scrolls. 

“It's about telling the story the right way and in the right sequence,” Dunn said. “If customers never see it, it's a missed opportunity.”

That adjustment delivered a 10% increase in both conversion rates and add-to-cart rates.

The results reinforced an important lesson for beauty brands: storytelling matters, but placement matters just as much.

Tweaks to the site are expected to help broaden Beekman 1802’s reach, which currently has a sweet spot among consumers in their 50s. “The products are incredible, and we want to bring them to everyone,” Dunn said, adding that men represent a big opportunity for the brand. 

[Read more: Execs from Walmart, Ulta, and Amazon on How They’re Maximizing the $500-Billion-Plus Wellness Opportunity]

Tapping A/B testing to help convert new customers and nurture loyal shoppers with a lean e-commerce team

Dunn now has the analytics that the brand needs to make sure conversions aren’t going up at the expense of average order value. “We need the perfect balance,” she said. “It is important for us to get new customers; we also want to make sure we are doing right by our tried-and-true customers.”

For Beekman 1802, the platform's speed has been equally important. Unlike larger corporations that often rely on dedicated optimization teams, the brand's lean e-commerce group can launch and evaluate tests quickly without extensive development resources.

The ability to test changes before committing development budgets also helps prioritize investments. Instead of rebuilding entire sections of a website based on assumptions, the team can identify exactly which elements deserve attention.

Looking ahead, Beekman 1802 plans to expand testing to product pages, incorporating additional educational content, customer reviews, and video assets designed to help shoppers better understand product benefits and ingredients.

As beauty consumers become increasingly knowledgeable and selective, Dunn believes testing will play an even larger role in helping brands balance education, storytelling, and conversion.

“The beauty industry changes incredibly fast,” she said. “Our website has to evolve just like our products do.”

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