How Beauty Tech  is inventing the future of beauty

In order to accelerate the pace of innovation and strengthen the partnership with business, Technology teams have developed a specific programme known as the Tech Accelerator. These centres of expertise based in Paris and Shanghai, and soon in New York, use data science, user-experience (UX) design, platform expertise and technological engineering to build solutions adapted in real time that can be deployed at scale with greater agility. 

The TrendSpotter application was launched as part of this programme. Its detection and prediction technology relies on artificial intelligence to identify avant-garde beauty trends on social media at a very early stage. The search engine scrutinises recommendations from trendsetters with the most followers on the web: beauty influencers, celebrities, beauty professionals and scientific experts. Trends analysed cover everything from ingredients to texture, packaging and lifestyle in makeup, skincare and haircare. Combined with L’Oréal’s expertise, this makes it possible to quickly develop products tailored precisely to consumers’ emerging expectations.

In this increasingly volatile and uncertain context, improving sales forecast accuracy, ensuring product availability, optimising stocks and reducing obsolete inventory, quickly identifying trend shifts and the early signs of an acceleration in sales are essential. All these challenges are addressed by Demand Sensing, another program developed in the Tech Accelerator and a key enabler for the digital transformation of L’Oréal’s supply chain. Demand Sensing analyses data using algorithms and artificial intelligence and leverages machine learning  to reinvent the demand forecasting process. Accessing multiple data sources via connected platforms optimises understanding and anticipation of sales, allowing machine-driven planning across the entire distribution network and ensuring the right stock is in the right place at the right time. A new technological breakthrough that benefits consumers by revolutionising sales forecasting.