Powering Beauty Pie's Personalisation Engine with Real-Time Data

Why Mass Marketing Doesn’t Cut It Anymore

Having worked with 50+ of Iterable’s Growth and Enterprise accounts, I’ve seen first-hand—and I’m certainly not the first to say it—mass marketing is a bit like sending a love letter addressed to “occupant.”

Today’s European consumers expect more. Nearly half are willing to share personal information if it leads to a more tailored experience—but only if what they get back feels thoughtful, timely, and genuinely valuable.

And yet, a lot of brands are still stuck in the past: batch-and-blast emails, basic segmentation, and generic offers that land with a thud.

Beauty Pie is flipping that script.

At INCENTIVIZE by Talon.One, I sat down with Jason Birth, CTO at Beauty Pie, to unpack how this UK-based, luxury beauty brand is rethinking engagement. With real-time data, a member-first mindset, and a thriving digital community, Beauty Pie is creating experiences that feel more like conversations—and less like marketing.

What Beauty Shoppers Want (What They Really, Really Want) 

At Beauty Pie, personalisation isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s core to how they operate. As a membership-based brand, they attract customers who expect more. When people hand over their personal data, they’re not doing it for fun. They expect brands to use it meaningfully.

Rather than hoarding data for the sake of CRM metrics, Beauty Pie focuses on removing friction from the journey. It’s not about pushing offers—it’s about understanding what’s standing between someone and their goal. Whether that’s finding the right serum or navigating a new skincare category, the mission is to help, not just market.

That means moving beyond one-size-fits-all campaigns toward real-time, personalised experiences. And to do that well, they’ve built a tech stack that goes beyond moving data from one place to another—it enables smarter, faster decisions at scale.

Loyalty? We’re Talking Long-Term Relationship Vibes

In beauty, loyalty isn’t just transactional—it’s emotional. And in Europe, that’s especially true. Over 56.3% of loyalty programs here already include personalised rewards – which is 15.8% higher than the global average.

Beauty Pie leans into that. As a digital-only brand, they don’t have the luxury of in-store beauty consultants or counters. Instead, they’ve built a community-driven ecosystem where reviews, social proof, and shared routines are all part of the product experience.

Now, don’t get me wrong, yes – members absolutely join for the perks. But what keeps them engaged is that club-like sense of belonging. In return, they give back—through advocacy, feedback, and long-term loyalty.

This community-first approach is also a growth engine. When members post hauls or rave about their new favourite finds, that’s organic marketing money can’t buy. It’s real, it’s trusted, and it scales far beyond what paid campaigns can do alone.

And Beauty Pie doesn’t just listen to its community—they spotlight them. Whether through content features, shared rituals, or skincare diaries, the brand is building with its customers, not just for them. That sense of shared ownership fuels trust and deeper loyalty.

Small Nudges, Big Impact

Beauty Pie takes a smart, data-driven approach to engagement. They use behavioural signals to understand when and how to show up—whether it’s with a limited-time drop, a personalised reminder, or a product recommendation.

By studying what their most engaged customers do, they can nudge others in the same direction. It’s part psychology, part marketing science—and it works.

To make these nudges work, Beauty Pie uses incentives, insights from clickstream interactions, and dwell-time data to inform what comes next. They’re constantly looking for behavioural cues that can signal when to engage and how.

Iterable’s Next Best Action feature powers this kind of data-driven agility. It translates real-time customer behaviour into orchestrated, personalised moments, helping brands like Beauty Pie predict what a customer needs before they even ask.

How Can It Feel One-to-One, Even When It’s One-to-Many?

One of the biggest unlocks for Beauty Pie? Real-time personalisation at scale.

With a flexible tech foundation, they can re-rank product listing pages (PLPs) on the fly based on nuanced behaviours—not just past purchases, but browsing history, page interactions, and more.

The result? A storefront that actually adapts to each person. It’s like walking into a shop where everything rearranges itself around your needs.

Behind the scenes, it’s all powered by thoughtful data modelling, strong governance, and a relentless test-and-learn culture. As Jason says: “Experiment, experiment, experiment.”

This mindset is what keeps their personalisation engine fresh, fast, and genuinely useful—always grounded in what real people actually want.

Building a Stack That Moves as Fast as Your Customers

For Beauty Pie, activating data isn’t optional—it’s essential.

As Jason put it, “Data processing is super important to be able to make real-time decisions.” But it’s not just about piping data from one system to another. It’s about choosing the right partners—collaborators like Iterable and Talon.One who can uncover insights and help translate signals into strategy.

Beauty Pie’s MACH approach (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, Headless) gives them the freedom to build a stack that plays well together and evolves over time. That’s key to staying agile, especially when customer expectations keep shifting.

5 Ways to Personalise Like Beauty Pie

If you’re aiming to level up your personalisation game like Beauty Pie, here’s a few things to consider as you get started:

1. Know your customer – Go deeper than demographics. Understand motivations and build around real needs.

2. Create emotional connections – Loyalty isn’t just points and perks. Build programs that spark belonging.

3. Act in real time – Use behavioural cues to deliver relevance in the moment.

4. Test everything – Make experimentation a habit, not a side project.

5. Build flexibly – Choose tools that help you scale with your customers, not just at them.

For more insights from Beauty Pie, watch the full session from INCENTIVIZE.

Final Thoughts: Personalisation Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated

Beauty Pie shows that smart personalisation isn’t about complexity—it’s about clarity. With the right mindset and systems, they’ve built a brand that listens, adapts, and grows with its community.

For any beauty brand trying to deepen loyalty in a crowded market, the message is simple: know your customer, act in the moment, and build a tech stack that helps you do both.