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The cosmetics industry is incredibly competitive, and L'Oréal needed to ensure that all their employees and partners had access to leading technologies.
Our collaboration with L'Oréal began in 2019 with a trial dealflow on a topic of importance they had identified. By the beginning of 2020, our relationship had evolved enough to establish a partnership and they soon joined us as an ecosystem member at Plug and Play Brand and Retail program in Paris. The primary motivation behind L'Oréal's decision was to accelerate both their digital and retail innovation and transition into the emerging world of Web3.
L'Oréal & Plug and Play partnership at a glance
L'Oréal’s Objectives
- Identify fitting opportunities and trends among relevant startups
- Form collaborative partnerships with other established businesses on selected topics of retail innovation
- Help their teams become more flexible and agile, particularly with solutions that are easy to plug and scale internally
- Embrace new technologies and prepare for the Web3 revolution
Partnership Outcomes
- L’Oréal was introduced to multiple startups in relevant fields
- Received access to relevant, up-to-date trends in the retail and beauty industry
- Facilitated networking and collaborative opportunities with other Plug and Play corporate partners
- Implemented a data-driven solution into their business by partnering with Ayolab
- Up and running project with Booxi, an e-booking solution that allowed L’Oréal to strengthen the links between their customers and their brands.
Facilitating retail innovation with L'Oréal
The beauty industry has undergone a dramatic transformation in recent years with the integration of new technologies, and L'Oréal has always sought to be at the forefront of this revolution. As digital channels continue to grow, L'Oréal has seized the opportunity to reach a wider audience, driving growth and innovation through retail innovation.
Year of joining: 2019
At Plug and Play, we understand the importance of staying ahead of change, that's why we specialize in fostering innovation and driving growth. Our global innovation platform consists of 50,000 startups, 500+ world-leading corporations, and hundreds of venture capital firms, universities, and government agencies in various industries.
We aspire to help established and developing companies discover new opportunities for innovation and technological integration. In this effort, we began working with L'Oréal, one of the leading pioneers and innovators in the beauty industry.
Working hand-in-hand with a beauty legend
L'Oréal, a company that manages 36 international brands, selling to consumers all around the world, has always placed a strong emphasis on research and innovation in their manufacturing process. Their brands produce hundreds of new products every year, and they have always sought to maintain up-to-date manufacturing capabilities. However, in today's highly competitive cosmetics industry, staying ahead of the curve is paramount. L'Oréal recognized the need to explore new spaces in innovation and to identify the proper opportunities and trends in the market.
Vertical:Brand & Retail
Not all startups on the market have an operating model fit for corporates, so the biggest challenge was to identify appropriate startups that could enable the use case needed by them in even the most demanding areas. Not all startups made the cut, but we were able to source a diverse and dynamic array nonetheless. Identifying the proper opportunities and trends in the market through our comprehensive data and rigorous research, we had an excellent selection of startups offering creative solutions to L'Oréal's needs, as well as collaborative exchanges with other corporate entities to work on specific topics and projects around metaverse, digital ads, retail media, carbon footprint, just to name a few.
Our program also gave L'Oréal access to the latest trends in their retail sector, networking possibilities with other major players in the industry, buy-ins from appropriate partners and co-workers, and various innovative solutions in the Web3 space.
Forming the foundation of our partnership with L'Oréal
L'Oréal’s main metric of success was the number of projects that they've done with startups, which has clearly proved noteworthy. With Plug and Play, they have been able to achieve incredible strides in the flexibility and agility of their teams, these solutions were consistently easy to integrate, and have also been successful in scaling internally.
Our partnership with L'Oréal was powerful and mutually beneficial. L'Oréal got access to cutting-edge solutions and startups that fit their needs, and of course, the startups got a chance to work with one of the leading brands in the beauty industry. One of the startups, Ayolab, whom L'Oréal met during the trial dealflow, launched a pilot in a commercial rollout and was recently approved as a global vendor for all L’Oréal entities worldwide. This is a testament to the power of our platform to bring the right startups and corporations together.
Another bright example is Booxi, appointment scheduling software that enabled L'Oréal to build a strong bridge between its brands and customers by responding to its clients faster.
Learn more about the pilot with Booxi
“I recommend the international angle of the startup portfolio of Plug and Play. They always have solutions that can meet a market need. We also appreciate their closeness to our business problematics and the depth of knowledge they have when looking at the topic together.” - Tanguy de Labrouhe, Director of Digital Open Innovation at L’Oréal
Plug and Play Brand and Retail platform is the perfect solution for big brands and retail corporations looking to stay ahead of the competition. We can help you identify the right startups, opportunities, and trends in the market, and give you access to the latest technologies. With access to cutting-edge startups, comprehensive data and research, and a network of major players in the industry, we will help you reach your goals and stay ahead of the curve in a constantly evolving market.
