(CNN) – It’s not just you. Everything is shrinking.
This week, the Trader Joe’s chain restocked the $2.99 mini tote bags that resold for up to $500 on eBay earlier this year. The stores prominently display travel-sized hair care, skin care and makeup products. TikToks of micro beauty bags being filled with micro products are racking up millions of views. Even iced tea brand Snapple has launched an 8-ounce bottle, advertised to fit in a mini bag.
For many people, mini-products may not seem to make much sense. However, despite the higher cost per weight for consumers, increased packaging and the potential to encourage overconsumption, brands are betting that reduced products will be able to satisfy customers’ nostalgia and provide an affordable entry point to the market. luxury.
Fashion Institute of Technology business management professor Shawn Carter said that since Covid-19, stores are giving their mini products better shelf space, an attempt to combat high prices and attract more customers. young people from the store, Generation Z and Generation Alpha.
Micro-fashion items began in the 1960s, Carter said. With the introduction of the mini skirt came the mini tote bag and then the mini top handle purse.
Like many eras in fashion, minis are back. “That trend accelerated in 2022, it went on steroids,” Carter said. But “it is no longer a trend. “This is here to stay.”
Take it from Trader Joe’s. Matt Sloan, vice president of marketing and host of the network’s “Inside Trader Joe’s” podcast, said in a March episode that the company had “no idea” that mini tote bags would become a viral craze.
“We actually had hundreds of thousands of bags coming in and out in a week,” Sloan said.
Finding a niche
Even if you’re not buying small things, you can’t escape the trend on social media.
Jo Barker’s TikTok account, The Little Bean, has racked up 3.2 million likes on TikTok for her niche of stuffing as many mini products as she can into luxury micro bags.
In one of her most popular videos, she fills a Coach Tabby mini bag ($195 online) with a Charlotte Tilbury mini lipstick, Chanel mini mascara, Tarte Shape Tape mini concealer, Chanel mini pressed powder, and a Versace mini perfume. along with other essentials. Other bags are from brands such as Gucci, Prada and Louis Vuitton.
Barker started her account in 2021 as a creative outlet and to meet other people in the luxury community. Covid made him realize that he didn’t have to carry as much as he thought, so he jumped on the mini bag trend.
“Every time I go out, I usually carry a smaller bag with me. “I don’t carry big totes or big totes, because it just doesn’t match my lifestyle,” Barker said.
There are a variety of ways to go mini, Barker said. She also makes her own mini makeup by putting portions of her full-sized items in small bottles.
Additionally, Sephora and Ulta offer mini samples with certain purchases, in exchange for rewards points, or on birthdays. It ends up being a big incentive for customers to spend at these stores, Barker said, because some of the mini items are only available as perks to frequent shoppers.
Even people who don’t use mini products are hooked on Barker’s content. Watching someone stuff so many tiny bottles into a bag is the kind of relaxing, almost mindless content that fills TikTok feeds. On TikTok, Barker has more than 100,000 followers and on Instagram 400,000 follow each of his posts.
“I mean, I think there’s a cuteness factor to it, right?” Barker said.
Think about the Polly Pockets you might have played with in your childhood, or the kid-sized lunches packed for school. Brands are evoking those memories by tapping into nostalgia.
“Humans have always loved, you know, tiny objects, and this is just a functional iteration of that,” said Anna Keller, principal analyst at Minter.
Some customers also prefer minis because it is easier to finish the entire product.
And despite what is typically a higher cost per pound, mini-sized items cost less than their regular-sized counterparts.
Mini-sized beauty and fashion items can often be an entry point into luxury without having to resort to knockoffs, or cheaper duplicates of more expensive brands, Keller said.
“They are looking for ways to access as much real luxury product as possible,” Keller said.
Producing minis can be expensive for smaller brands because of the additional operating costs and having to work out logistics with manufacturers, but the payoff can be worth it for companies as consumers can experiment with their products, especially when minis They are already in trend.
“So it can be a very valuable marketing tool,” Keller said.
Jumping on any fashion and beauty trend on social media carries the risk of increasing plastic waste – there’s more packaging and manufacturing involved in owning a mini bottle in addition to the full-size versions.
Companies need to start moving toward reusable and refillable products, said Melissa Valliant, communications director at environmental group Beyond Plastic, so the proliferation of “smaller bottles and smaller products instead of larger or reusable products only means more plastic production.”
The Association of Plastic Recyclers recommended purchasing full-size products and using reusable containers when mini products are needed during travel. That’s because packages smaller than 2 inches (five centimeters) cannot be recycled in the US system.
And value is subjective for the trend’s biggest fans.
“If I bought a larger version, okay, I’m getting more fabric for the price, but I’m never going to use that big bag because it doesn’t fit my lifestyle,” Barker said. “If you buy something that may cost more, but you will use it more often, it is worth the investment.”
