L’Oreal Leans Into Livestream Shopping Experiences

Using the platform Livescale, L'Oreal brands like Urban Decay are hosting interactive, shoppable virtual events.

Need to Know 

  • L’Oreal has launched its latest beauty innovation: shoppable livestreams.
  • Using Canadian livestream app Livescale, customers can interact with livestream hosts, ask questions, and shop directly from the platform.
  • L’Oreal has sold makeup products form its Urban Decay and Lancôme brands so far via Livescale.
  • Livescale is also available on the Shopify App Store as an add-on for merchants.

Analysis

As part of a new post-COVID marketing strategy, L’Oreal has become the latest beauty brand to tap into the power of “livestream shopping”. 

Using an app called Livescale, L’Oreal, which includes brands such as Urban Decay, Lancôme, and NYX Cosmetics, has been able to offer shoppable livestream experiences to its customers. Unlike Instagram’s Live tool, which does not offer a shopping functionality, Livescale integrates shopping links directly into the platform. Livescale also reportedly rivals Instagram Live for providing a clearer picture with fewer technical interruptions.  

Using Livescale, beauty brands like L’Oreal can now provide live makeup tutorials that allow customers to interact with the hosts, ask questions, receive discounts and bonuses, and purchase products, all as one seamless experience. Interactive, shoppable live-streams are also growing in popularity for brands in activewear, cuisine, and fashion. 

“For industries like makeup and color, live-streaming is just going to grow and grow,” Crisanta German, senior director of marketing at skincare brand Shani Darden told Glossy. “Watching someone do a makeup tutorial live and being able to interact with them and ask questions is something that you can’t do on a static YouTube video.” 

Though Shani Darden is not a L’Oreal brand, it’s clear that virtual shopping experiences like this L’Oreal and Livescale partnership have allowed beauty and fashion brands to pivot during these unprecedented times. 

“In Asia, live shopping has significantly boosted e-commerce revenue for years, and since COVID-19, we’re seeing a similar surge in North America, which is currently observing an impressive 146% percent growth in online retail orders,” said Virgile Ollivier, founder and CEO of Livescale. “We are proud to provide a seamless viewer experience for e-commerce brands ready to embrace live shopping, increase audience engagement and significantly multiply revenue.”

Because Livescale is based in Canada, the service was originally only available on Canadian sites but has since expanded to the U.S. too. As of June 25, Livescale will now be available in the Shopify App Store as an additional tool for merchants. 

Leading the charge for innovation in the beauty space, L’Oreal recently expanded its AR capacities with the acquisition of Toronto-based ModiFace: an AR platform that allows you to “try on” cosmetics when shopping on Amazon. In January, the beauty giant also partnered with Walmart and Garnier, launching a new offering that let customers “try on” new hair colors, a service offering that resulted in three times the number of purchases. 

L’Oreal’s next interactive livestream experience is on July 7, a makeup tutorial from Urban Decay that promises giveaways, too.