Continuous Quality Monitoring via Data and Analytics at Patina Beauty

Patina Beauty was founded in 2002 by two professional makeup artists. The company started with a range of lipsticks but had since expanded into other makeup categories, fragrances, and a limited skin care line. The company marketed to a younger consumer and was particularly focused on millennials. Reflecting this focus, Patina's marketing efforts were largely digital, and the company had a big social media presence. All inbound contacts, regardless of how they were received, were aggregated and coded via the use of a single third-party sales analysis platform. In October 2020 the Sales Analytics Group noticed an uptick in contact volume largely generated from China. The team also noticed that the increase was driven almost exclusively by complaints. The spike was especially cause for concern given that Patina Beauty had a 100% return policy with no questions asked, so customer complaints often led to returns and lost revenue. In this case, students are asked to consider potential root causes of the increased online customer complaints—and based on their hypotheses, what type of analysis and potential interventions they would recommend.