With physical shops having closed their doors to limit the spread of COVID-19, many local businesses are turning their attention online. The latest is popular make-up retailer Lucy Make up Store, which has just launched an online shopping site with deliveries available across Malta and Gozo. 

Speaking of the milestone, Lucy Director Claire Abela explains that most of the brands found in their brick and mortar shops are now available online, with the ultimate aim of having all 23 brands online in the near future. “We'll also have some exclusive products for online sale only, which we’re phasing in,” she reveals.

“We already had a store selling beauty boxes, and it was always in our plan to expand online,” Claire explains, “but it was tougher whilst we had the brick and mortar stores to focus on.” As focus is split between rolling out new lines and organising the makeup festival, she admits that working on an online shop was put on the back burner, until the pandemic reached our shores. “It was always in our plan, but it was accelerated because of the restrictions,” she maintains.

The website was put together by Switch - Digital & Brand, which was entrusted with taking Lucy online in a short timeframe. 

“The project was an interesting one – taking Lucy, a store with thousands of products, online in a few weeks,” says Switch CEO Richard Muscat Azzopardi. “It was a challenge, but one which brought the team together behind a fantastic project. Lucy had already tried their hand at ecommerce with a small selection of products, but they needed a specialist to be able to make the shift to a store that could offer the scalability to handle all the stock, traffic and eventual sales so rapidly,” he continues, affirming that the focus now lies on optimising the user experience for Lucy fans.

Now that the store is live, Claire shares her thoughts in relation to businesses who are still mulling over whether to take the digital step. “It depends on the business. We started selling through Facebook, saw potential and grew from there. It makes sense to start small and then grow and invest,” she advises.

Finally, reflecting on the prospects of the make-up market in Malta, and the impact felt by this period of restrictions, Claire’s outlook is positive. “I personally think makeup will still grow. People have more time to experiment, especially with affordable brands like ours. Skincare is already growing and will grow more, as again, people have more time for themselves.”