Trends & Accelerations: Long-Term Transformation Triggered by the Covid Crisis

The world is going through a real and spectacular storm. The Covid crisis has upended traditional ways of working and living and has impacted every aspect of our society and our economy. But for all its disruption, it has also pushed us forward in many ways.

What does tomorrow look like? At L’Oréal, we spend a lot of time thinking about this, even before the Covid crisis. We evaluate new trends; understand our consumers’ needs; develop exciting projects regarding the future of our products and consumer experiences.  And our key predictions – the projects our teams were invested in – have been at the heart of the accelerations driven by the Covid crisis.

An acceleration towards digital transformation

The first and most obvious acceleration has been in e-commerce. Over a period of eight weeks, e-commerce retail sales in the US increased as much as it had in the ten previous years. This is tremendous growth. And although brick-and-mortars have a key place in retail, the transition to e-commerce has undeniably brought about real and lasting change to the market. This transformation to consumer behaviour has also given us the opportunity to leverage our contributions to new marketing modes. We’ve been working on pushing boundaries with our digital transformation, which extends into new ways of speaking to consumers virtually. Live streams, for example, have seen a boom during the crisis. By leveraging technology, influencers selling products online allow consumers to have access to tips, advice, and real people taking them through the product. In a moment of isolation and nation-wide lockdowns, this virtual yet authentic connection has been an invaluable consumer experience.

An acceleration towards sustainability

The Covid crisis was a wake-up call for the world. As we all felt the massive impact a single virus could have on all of our lives, there was a global awareness for the protection of our planet. Men and women in every corner of the globe called out for concrete action around the protection of planetary boundaries: our skies, our water, and our air. L’Oréal – all of us working in every sector of this Group: from marketing to finance, research and innovation, and operations – have been committed to protecting the beauty of the planet by fighting climate change, respecting biodiversity and preserving natural resources. L’Oréal for the Future, which comes on the heels of Sharing Beauty with All, started in 2005, has defined bold, measurable sustainability targets for 2030, in accordance with what scientific experts demand and what our planet needs. We have committed to this transformation, and we will hold ourselves accountable to it every step of the way.

An acceleration towards science-driven safety

Health has been the key focus in these past few months, and science has become the answer to getting out of this health crisis. Now, as we search for a vaccine, trust in the science and transparency in the process, is as important as ever. As a chemical engineer, L’Oréal’s Founder Eugène Schueller instilled stringent internal safety and quality standards that continue to go far beyond external regulations. Our rigor – high standards of controls anchored in science, chemistry and biology – is in our DNA. This intrinsic link between science and safety is ingrained within the hearts and minds of our more than 4K researchers across the world who strive for excellence every step of the way. Now more than ever, we collectively understand the importance of relying on science to offer safe solutions to everyday problems.

And this need for trustworthy science has come with a call for greater transparency. Not just transparency in the process, but also in the ingredients. We believe this is true for this health crisis, as well as for the way companies must behave.

An acceleration towards data-driven research and innovation

This crisis has also been a moment of considerable importance for data. In this critical time, collecting data, sharing it, understanding it, will get us closer to a vaccine. For L’Oréal, data-driven research and innovation, coupled with technology and Artificial Intelligence, has been central to offering our consumers better, more personalized products. We pride ourselves on transparently relying on data to better understand our consumers and offering them experiences that are personalized to their needs and expectations. This is the beauty of tomorrow. And this is our focus as we transform into a leading Beauty Tech Company: to leverage technology to satisfy all beauty needs and desires in their infinite diversity.

An acceleration toward purpose-driven companies

From day one of the Covid crisis, we committed ourselves to action-driven responses anchored in our commitment to supporting our communities, the cause of women, most affected by the crisis, and in strengthening the bonds with our suppliers, our partners, and our consumers. And this desire to invest in a greater purpose and stand by core values was felt around the world.

 This acceleration for a quest for meaning has been particularly true for consumers, who leverage consuming as a way of expressing their inner convictions. Today, an act of purchase is a vote.  At L’Oréal the Covid crisis continues to shape our sense of purpose, which begun 112 years ago. The values of our Group – to Create the Beauty that Moves the World – isn’t just a tagline. It is our mission. It is what drives us.

We know the market of beauty will rebound, it is robust and has proven to come back stronger after a crisis. Our role as leaders of this industry – our focus – is to make sure we contribute to that rebounding and continue to nurture the innovations accelerated by the crisis. We aim to take a difficult moment and turn it into a stepping-stone for an even brighter future.