McKinsey · Consumer / beauty retail · Intermediate · 25-35 min

Beautify: should in-store beauty consultants use virtual channels?

Beautify: should in-store beauty consultants use virtual channels? is an intermediate McKinsey consumer / beauty retail case interview that runs 25-35 min. Decide whether the investment is worth making and how success should be measured. A strong answer works through 3 phases: Economics of virtual outreach; Incremental revenue versus store substitution; Pilot design and KPI tracking.

Last updated 2026-09-05

The brief

A global beauty company is considering training in-store consultants to use virtual channels to connect with customers beyond the store.

How to approach it

  1. Economics of virtual outreach
  2. Incremental revenue versus store substitution
  3. Pilot design and KPI tracking

What a strong answer does

  • Decide whether the investment is worth making and how success should be measured.
  • A strong answer should weigh customer lifetime value, consultant productivity, adoption risk, and channel cannibalization.

Practice drills

  • Build a decision tree for adoption and revenue uplift.
  • Estimate how many virtual touches each consultant would need to break even.
  • Close with a pilot recommendation and risk controls.

Why this case

McKinsey publishes this as a sample problem-solving interview case.

Adapted from McKinsey sample case: Beautify (official sample).

Cases are written in each firm's style, written and reviewed by working consultants; they are not the firms' own published cases.

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