Leveraging science and technology to enhance the consumer experience
To keep pace with the changing beauty market and new consumer trends, Operations are transforming their supply chain and investing in experience design.
Technology optimises the supply chain
To better serve consumers and professionals as e-commerce sales soar, Operations are constantly improving supply chain processes. The challenge is twofold: they must meet market demand by providing a wide range of services that offer high added value, such as customised deliveries, all while improving ergonomics and the daily work experience for employees by avoiding heavy lifting and allowing people to focus on areas that enhance added value, like quality control, for instance.
The Mitry-Mory fulfilment centre in France—which prepares orders for the Professional Products Division—is a good example. It relies on automation to optimise delivery times even as the number of orders from hair salons rises and the orders themselves become smaller and more fragmented. New systems have been rolled out to provide advanced order flow planning, traceability and automation, including autonomous vehicles such as robotic forklifts and motorised carts guided by video, along with automated package sealing and unloading solutions. All of these tools streamline flows and enhance supply chain performance to improve hairdresser satisfaction.
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Science: the key to packaging innovation
Creating packaging that is both sustainable and appealing is also about getting ahead of consumer expectations. That’s why L’Oréal created the UX Design Lab in 2019, to meet consumer expectations for packaging in terms of both sustainable development and the user experience. The Lab develops breakthrough solutions by combining packaging science and design to create packaging that guarantees an innovative user experience while promoting sustainability. Its interdisciplinary teams pool their expertise and work together to determine which features lead to packaging that is both appealing and high-performance in terms of colour, ergonomics, sensory experience, volume, graphic design, etc.
To model consumer expectations, the UX Design Lab relies on sociological studies and takes its inspiration from cognitive science, and neuroscience in particular. These tools and studies help detect opportunities for innovation and inspire new beauty rituals in line with the customs, expectations and needs of each market and target audience.
