10 beauty tech and retail takeaways from CEW’s 2019 Connected Consumer conference
The 2019 CEW Connected Consumer conference was an information-packed event. Pinterest presented new data on beauty consumers’ visual search behavior, commissioned expressly for the event. P&G took advantage of the opportunity to debut its forthcoming digital makeup-meets skin care device the Opté both on stage and at a booth in the networking area. And the 20+ beauty and tech experts shared a seemingly endless stream of up-to-the-minute knowledge and notes on the intersection of tech and beauty.
Cosmetics Design was there and here is but a small selection of the insights shared from the stage:
1. P&G will launch Opté in 2020.
“Hyperpigmentation is the biggest gauge of health, age, and attractiveness,” says Lauren Thaman, director of communications at P&G Ventures. And after spending close to 15 years in development stage, the company will launch a new beauty tech tool in 2020 to address hyperpigmentation directly. Opté is a digital printing device that deposits a serum (comprising fair, medium, or deep mineral pigment, niacinamide, propylene glycol, sodium hydroxide, acrylates copolymer, and caprylyl glycol and 1,2 hexanediol) with a sort of digital scanning and printing technology to cover only dark areas, providing minimal skin coverage, an even skin tone appearance, and long-term anti-aging benefits.
2. “Beauty is about science and art. And this is the way we need to look at data—as science and as art.” – Ben Jones, CEO at Haus Labs
3. The experiential beauty storefronts of the future will be places where consumers can test, try, and play with product. – Hannah Symons, head of beauty and personal care for Euromonitor International
4. “Search on Pinterest leads consumers down the purchase funnel.” Which means that “Pinterest upper funnel search opens up a new beauty opportunity.” Essentially that non-branded search is inspired search and it holds huge potential for beauty brands looking to get in front of consumers early on in the purchase journey. – Rachel Goodman, head of beauty partnerships at Pinterest
5. “80% of voice users say they like to engage with brands via their voice assistants.” – Kira Rich, global technology strategist on the human truths team at Google
6. “A China strategy is really important because this is where the future of beauty is growing.” – Deborah Weinswig, founder and CEO of Coresight Research
7. “Chinese consumers have the highest spend of any international traveler.” – Kimberly Lee, Tencent
8. Just because today’s beauty consumers have shorter attention spans doesn’t mean that they want less information or less experience. – Kate Jalkut, executive director of media and influence at The Estée Lauder Companies
9. “The future of consumer products is here. It’s personalized, and it’s driven by AI” – Proven Ming Zhao, founder and CEO of Proven
10. Tech should provide a stronger and closer relationship with consumers, a connection between product and company and feedback between them. – Guive Balooch, global VP of L’Oréal’s Technology Incubator
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Deanna Utroske, CosmeticsDesign.com Editor, covers beauty business news in the Americas region and publishes the weekly Indie Beauty Profile column, showcasing the inspiring work of entrepreneurs and innovative brands.
