The tech that could disrupt the beauty aisle

Grocers wondering where the next disruptive force in their industry will come from should be taking a look at what L'Oréal just launched.

At CES in Las Vegas this week, the French cosmetics and beauty giant unveiled a small device called Perso that allows customers to create customized makeup. This means fewer shoppers searching for the right shade of pink in grocery store beauty aisles, and more shoppers creating personalized makeup at home.

"L'Oréal is leveraging advanced technology to create smart beauty products and services that answer the needs of our consumers and offer them near-limitless personalization and precision," said Nicolas Hieronimus, L'Oréal deputy CEO. "We are committed to making L'Oréal the leader in Beauty Tech--and Perso is the next step in that exciting journey."

Offering innovative health and beauty care products has been one way for grocers to differentiate in this competitive climate, especially via customization, upscaled beauty departments, and private brands. But L'Oréal's latest launch poses another threat because now that customization is being put into consumers' homes, another hurdle in getting people to buy beauty at grocery stores.

L'Oréal says Perso creates personalized skin care in four steps: personal skin analysis, environmental assessment, product preference, and customer formulation and dispensing. (Watch the video below to see it in action.)





With regular use, Perso's AI platform will let users know what treatments are working and will automatically adapt future formulas based on personal results.

Perso also features an automatic refill process that ensures its custom, NFC-tagged cartridges are always stocked and ready for daily use. Users can manage shipments from the Perso mobile app.

Perso will be launched in partnership with a leading L'Oréal skin care brand in 2021.

A version of this article appeared at ProgressiveGrocer.com.