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What Fast-Growing Beauty Brands Need from an ERP: A Checklist

INSIGHT 4 min read

New products, new markets, and shifting consumer preferences keep beauty brands in constant motion, where the product drops come fast, and the pressure to deliver a flawless experience comes even faster.  

But behind the scenes, growth brings complexity: more SKUs, more sales partners, tighter timelines, and stricter compliance requirements. Speed can work against you when internal systems can’t keep up; even the most promising brand can run into delays and customer experience issues. 

This is when an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system should become an essential part of the business. A modern ERP supports every stage of expansion, from financial management and tracking SKUs across multiple locations to keeping supply chains, sales teams, inventory and customer data in sync. After just one year of using an ERP platform, 91% of organizations in one survey reported optimized inventory levels. 

For beauty brands with ambitious goals, the right ERP provides a foundation for expanding into new markets, launching new products, and delivering consistently across sales channels. 

Here’s a checklist of what to look for.

Scales with the Business 

A single product line can turn into dozens of SKUs. Online-only sales may grow into in-store partnerships and national distribution. Operational complexities increase as beauty brands grow, straining early-stage tools. Manual processes take longer, and teams spend more time fixing errors than supporting launches or partnerships. 

A scalable ERP gives you the infrastructure to keep pace with demand. These systems support high transaction volumes, multiple business units, and multi-location fulfillment. With automation for invoicing, returns, order entry, and reporting, brands can increase output without doubling staff or patching together spreadsheets. Companies can also gain real-time insight into how each product, channel, and location is performing. 

Coordinates Across Every Channel 

Customers expect flexibility. Think about how people shop and buy today: They may first find a product on social media, then visit your website or a marketplace to purchase. They expect a seamless experience from discovery to delivery, regardless of where the transaction originated. Behind each purchase is a set of inventory updates, shipping steps, and service expectations that need to be met to keep customers coming back. 

ERP platforms with omnichannel functionality keep those systems in sync. Orders, fulfillment, and inventory stay connected across storefronts, marketplaces, and POS systems. This prevents overselling, reduces stockouts, and allows teams to focus on shipping instead of troubleshooting. 

Centralizing customer and order data also helps brands run smarter campaigns. Teams can see purchase history, improve segmentation, and adjust marketing in real time based on what customers are buying. 

Supports Faster Product Development 

Product innovation fuels growth in the beauty industry. A trend might emerge and peak in a matter of months. Brands that want to respond quickly need close coordination between product development, sourcing, compliance, and manufacturing. 

An ERP with robust product lifecycle management (PLM) capabilities helps teams stay aligned from concept to shelf. It offers a central hub where R&D, procurement, manufacturing, and compliance teams can collaborate. This reduces back-and-forth, cuts down on delays, and ensures teams are working from current information. 

Our ERP system allows you to track everything in one place, from ingredient sourcing to packaging compliance. A skincare brand, for example, can launch a new formula and document its certifications and claims without relying on disconnected tools or offline workflows. 

Why ERP Selection Matters for Fast-Growing Beauty Brands 

Not every ERP can meet the demands of a growing health and beauty brand. Some fall short on inventory control, regulatory tracking, or multichannel coordination. Choosing a platform that supports your operating model matters. 

NetSuite offers a cloud-based ERP designed with health and beauty manufacturers in mind. It connects financials, inventory, order management, and compliance within one system, reducing duplicate data and simplifying day-to-day work. 

With NetSuite, beauty brands can: 

  • Keep inventory updated in real time across sales channels 
  • Track batches and ingredients from suppliers to finished goods 
  • Maintain documentation for audits, certifications, and claims 
  • Coordinate production and fulfillment across warehouses 
  • Integrate with e-commerce platforms and wholesale networks 

Instead of relying on bolt-on tools and manual processes, teams gain a clear view of operations and the flexibility to support new growth. 

Sikich brings deep experience in the health and beauty sector, with a proven approach to launching NetSuite quickly and effectively. We use industry-specific templates to help you launch faster and more confidently. You won’t have to build every workflow from the ground up. 

As your needs change, we also help you adapt. Contact Sikich to explore how NetSuite can support your growth, streamline operations, and bring your systems into alignment. We’ll help you scale with confidence.

Author

Tony Rogers is an Account Executive for Sikich. He has over eight years of software experience and aims to empower companies by enhancing operational effectiveness and foster growth through technology.