LTV Lab: We Bought From PROSE

Brand Overview

Prose is a direct-to-consumer brand specializing in highly personalized skincare and haircare products. Prospective customers complete an in-depth online quiz, then receive custom formulations tailored for their needs and location. The target audience is consumers seeking premium products and a hyper-personalized experience without visiting a dermatologist or beauty consultant. Prose claims unmatched personalization and ingredient transparency as its main differentiators.

Customer Journey Breakdown

Website Experience
Prose’s shopping journey begins with a deep and lengthy quiz, automatically creating an account and collecting detailed information—skin/hair history, location, fragrance preference, lifestyle factors. The quiz is engaging, offering “why we ask” tooltips to explain every question. However, customers cannot simultaneously purchase skincare and haircare; each requires a separate quiz and checkout, leading to redundant effort and double shipping fees. Product recommendations follow the quiz, but the checkout experience lacks flexibility. Post-quiz, users can access a portal with their profile and ingredients, but this critical data isn’t surfaced proactively during or after purchase.

Email & SMS Marketing:
After placing an order, customers receive a confirmation email and SMS (“your order is on its way”). There’s a long gap—10 days before shipping, with no intermediate updates, delivery confirmation, or insights into the customization process. Unlike competitors with “order tracker” communications, Prose leaves buyers in the dark. Post-purchase campaigns are sparse and impersonal (i.e., one campaign showed male model imagery to a female buyer and missed basic segmentation). Mother's Day emails somewhat address sensitivity, but overall personalization and cross-sell emails are lacking. Key gifting moments and educational sequences (“how to use,” “why serum matters”) are missing from follow-ups.

Unboxing & Product Experience:
Packaging shines with clear personalization: the customer's name and location on labels, a personalized QR code linking to a landing page showing ingredients, fragrance, and usage. The box and presentation are premium and create a strong first impression. However, information on how and when to use the product is fragmented and often hidden (e.g., usage instructions only under the bottle). There’s no habit-building guidance in email or SMS, and no highlighting of the subscription program in packaging or follow-ups. Customers must search for ingredient data or feedback links in their portal without any prompting.

Strengths (What Worked Well):

• Quiz and onboarding set a high bar for perceived personalization; “why we ask” tooltips boost buy-in.

• Labels, QR codes, and portal deliver a premium, personalized unboxing (name, fragrance, location).

• Ingredient and skin profile data show transparency—though only to users who actively seek it.

• The product itself delivered outstanding results; truly customized formulas led to high initial satisfaction.

Content, creative, or strategy examples to emulate:

• “Made for you in [location]” product labeling and custom QR landing pages.

• Personalized onboarding with interactive data collection and explanation.

Weaknesses (Opportunities Missed):

• No shipping progress, delivery, or habit-building emails or SMS—leaving customers anxious and uninformed during waiting periods.

• Gifting, cross-sell, or campaign emails lack segmentation and often miss relevant moments.

• Portal houses essential engagement and feedback tools but is not promoted in communications.

• Education on product usage is fragmented and often hidden; customers must search for guidance.

• Subscription push is heavy pre-purchase but weak after purchase or delivery. No timely prompts to replenish.

• Post-purchase retention flows are non-existent (no check-ins or encouragement to return and refine).

• Campaign emails occasionally miss with irrelevant imagery or weak copy for actual customer profiles.

  
  

Key Lifecycle Marketing Lessons for Other Brands

• Personalization must extend beyond the product—communicate regularly about progress, usage tips, and ways to engage or refine the experience.

• Don’t assume customers will dig for data in their portal—proactively guide them back with check-ins, feedback requests, and relevant offers tied to their profile.

• Campaigns and retention flows require segmentation and timing to match customer needs and moments; generic sends risk poor engagement and wasted effort.

• Premium pricing sets high expectations for brand experience—every communication and touchpoint should reinforce the value proposition and prompt loyalty, not just acquisition.

Build loyalty by combining comprehensive personalization in both product and communication, habit-building nudges, and segmented retention strategies that make every customer feel acknowledged long after checkout.