L’Oréal assembles team of ‘geeks’ to help win the digital battle
Speaking in a conference call with analysts, the French firm’s chief detailed the company’s focus on the ‘digital revolution’ and the steps it is taking to ensure it comes out on top.
“We are recruiting a dream team of digital geeks and experts that can really help us to win the battle. And we are very excited, because we think that it’s going to be a great competitive advantage,” he explains.
“We have recruited many people, because it’s a complete new expertise and we want to have the best expertise in the industry.”
Strategy in place
L’Oréal’s latest digital strategy has already seen the appointment of Lubomira Rochet as Chief Digital Officer, who says that the digital ambition for the cosmetics maker is to anchor the Group’s strategy, which is the conquest of the next billion consumers.
Agon adds that e-commerce has now become really significant for the company too as it targets more than $1 billion this year for the sales and the growth of the company, meaning there is an enhanced focus on digital increases.
“We try to make sure that every expense makes sense, and we don’t spend in digital just to study digital,” he continues.
“We believe that it helps us especially for some targets, for some categories, [and is] very attractive.”
The L’Oréal chief adds that he thinks investment in the ‘digital revolution’ will be a competitive advantage as the company strongly believes that it will be deeply transformed by it, but they must act fast and now to stay on top.
Sales acceleration
The ‘significant’ investment L’Oréal continues to make in accelerating the digital transformation and development of its brands is expected to continue in the second half of the year after the first half results reported a positive push in this area.
“Thanks in particular to a rich innovation portfolio, prospects of rapid e-commerce growth and the continuing roll-out of recently acquired brands, we are projecting an acceleration in growth in the second half,” says Agon.
“We are confident in our ability to outperform the beauty market and achieve a year of significant growth in both sales and profits."
The Paris-based cosmetics maker saw first half sales rise by 14.7% to €12.8 billion, with a year-on-year increase of 15.3% in second quarter sales.
