Aussie beauty behemoth with cult-like following and $1bn turn over

It is the cult beauty behemoth that’s turning over nearly $1 billion a year – and it has eight to 80-year-olds obsessed.

It is the cult beauty behemoth that’s turning over nearly $1 billion a year – and it has eight to 80-year-olds obsessed.

Retail giant Mecca – like the holy Islamic city it shares its name with – attracts a pilgrimage of devout followers to its 100-plus stores across Australia and New Zealand every weekend to test, try and buy the latest beauty and skin care products.

Stocking cosmetics from around the world, Mecca caters for every budget – from its cheap home brand collection to ultra-expensive brands including a face moisturiser dubbed the ‘holy grail’ that retails for $2200 for just 250ml.

Stores across Australia – including its flagships in Sydney and Melbourne which extend over multiples levels – are always filled with teenagers and young women who go from product to product testing samples of lip balm, face cream and body mists.

Jess Collier with 12-year-old Mia Collier outside Mecca Maxima, Brisbane, Saturday, March 9, 2024 – Picture: Richard Walker

Many products – including brands like Sol de Janiero, Drunk Elephant and Glow Recipe – have a cult-like following thanks to millions of Mecca disciples, who posts videos to TikTok and YouTube reviewing their every purchase.

It is thanks to these unpaid ‘influencers’ that Mecca’s success has exploded in popularity and revenue since Covid, where it now turns over close to a whopping $1 billion a year.

The business, which is Australia’s leading beauty brand, has grown more in the last five years than it did in its first 20 years, according to its founder and former L’Oreal exec Jo Horgan.

It’s a far cry from its inception in 1997 when the Melbourne-born company started as a single store in South Yarra and lost money for the first four years.

As well as saturation across social media, part of the Mecca success, experts say, is their generous loyalty program, Beauty Loop, which rewards customers with gifts, exclusive offers, deluxe product samples and access to in-store experiences depending on their spending level.

Well resourced stores with highly-educated staff who are trained on every product, luxurious packaging and free samples and delivery are also part of the business model.

“Hierarchical programs give you greater value the more you spend or travel and these programs also encourage us to reach that next benchmark to achieve better gifts,” said QUT retail marketing and consumer behaviour guru Gary Mortimer.

“It’s a win-win for retailers or the business and customers. The win for the retailers is more sales, more revenue and the win for the customer is better rewards.”

Mr Mortimer said loyalty program, which has grown by 30 per cent since 2020, encouraged consumers to visit more, spend more and choose it over other retailers to reach the next tier, which would give them a higher sense of status.

Mecca Robina store

This play for status is also echoed in the fact that the brand never has sales or discounts, Mr Mortimer said.

Perhaps Mecca’s most clever play, however, is that it targets customers of all generations from beauty-obsessed teens to senior citizens

“If you capture them in their teenage years with some great fun products you can condition and educate them as they move into their twenties and thirties and then take them into their forties and fifties,” Mr Mortimer said.

Social media and the brand’s early adoption of TikTok has also helped it boom – particularly among Gen Z and even Gen Alpha, with it boasting almost one million followers on Instagram and 220,000 on TikTok.

Mecca Robina store

Beauty influencer and former Mecca employee Claire Bridgett said her followers simply couldn’t get enough of her content on the retailer, where she talks about everything from her favourite products to those that have gone viral and rates whether they’re worth it.

“I think people are fascinated with Mecca in Australia because that’s the place to shop.”

she said, with her videos garnering hundreds of thousands of views.

The 27-year-old noticed the brand really take off during Covid, when women around the country were stuck at home bored, doing makeup tutorials online.

“With JobKeeper, people had money to spend and nothing to spend it on so why not buy beauty products to make yourself feel better?,” she said.

The influencer described Mecca as the “Bunnings for women” and said part of the retailer’s appeal was the fact that it always stocked the latest viral products from across the world from the best brands.

Nationally acclaimed, Brisbane-based makeup artist Ru Blackwell said, even as a professional in the industry, she still relied on the highly trained staff for advice.

“The knowledge the staff have is insane. They’re hardcore with their training,” she said.

The price range was another drawcard.

“You can go in and spend $250 on an eye cream or $30 on an eye cream.’’

Mother Jess Collier said she and her daughter Mia Collier, 12, had travelled from Byron Bay for the weekend and were excited to visit Mecca.

Mecca Noosa.

Mia said her favourite products were Sol De Janeiro and she “loved the packaging.”

“Honestly everything here is just so nice and me and my friends all love it,” she said.

Ms Collier said her daughter was always after gift cards from Mecca.

“She’s always scrolling online looking for what she wants,” she said.

“It’s nice that it has all variety so we are here today to stock up.”

Ms Collier said they also loved the general Mecca range.

“I love the little bags and it feels like an experience you know what I mean,” she said.