B2B beauty tech moves: Sampler acquires Abeo, while Landing International and ClearForMe partner

12 Apr 2023 --- Omnichannel product sampling platform Sampler has acquired Abeo, a digital sampling agency for beauty and cosmetic products, founded by Arcade Beauty. Meanwhile, in other business moves, B2B technology companies Landing International and ClearForMe have joined forces to promote more transparency and inclusivity for beauty shoppers.

As an impact of the COVID-19-induced growth of online shopping and digital solutions, consumers are demanding more transparency and personalization. The industry is enabled to meet this shift via digital technological solutions.

Casting an eye toward the future, more personalized beauty and cosmetic trends are set to increase in 2023 with foundations in Artificial Intelligence (AI), data and multi-functionality products, according to a previous interview with Rune Daneels, product manager at Oleon Health and Beauty.

Sampler’s US and EU expansion
Sampler’s acquisition of Abeo will deepen its beauty expertise and accelerate its expansion to Europe and the US – where Abeo holds its offices.

“Through the combined capabilities of Abeo and Sampler, we are thrilled to join a team enabling further acceleration in the luxury beauty industry,” comments Allie Sorensen, general manager at Abeo.

Sampler is available in 23 countries and works with 1,000 brands across food, nutrition, beauty and personal care. The company creates personalized relationships between people and brands. Some of its clients and partners include L’Oréal, Unilever and Amorepacific.Arcade Beauty will be receiving a minority stake in Sampler.

“The beauty industry was an early adopter of digital product sampling and we have continued to see innovation, new use cases and opportunities pop up in the category in recent years,” says Marie Chevrier, CEO and founder at Sampler. 

“Through this acquisition and ongoing partnership, the combined entity will uniquely position Sampler as the global leader in omnichannel product sampling.”

Arcade Beauty’s minority stake
Meanwhile, Arcade Beauty will be receiving a minority stake in Sampler. Both companies have also entered into a commercial partnership agreement to allow brands to partner with both companies to design end-to-end solutions for promotional activities.

“While we will maintain our legacy as the product innovator for our valued customers, we recognize Abeo’s journey is best suited with a partner that carries our same vision and brings added expertise in digital sampling,” says Jorge Garcia, executive VP and CFO at Arcade Beauty. 

“Equally, we are excited to enter into a new partnership with Sampler to deliver unique value propositions to our brand partners serving end-to-end sampling solutions.”

Advancing ingredient education
Within the beauty tech space, Landing International and ClearForMe have partnered to help beauty customers find and support brands aligned with shared values.

“It’s rare to find the kind of alignment that Sabrina and I have,” says Park, CEO at Landing International. “While our technology accomplishes different things, there’s a lot of synergy in what we do and why we do it.” 

Landing International’s marketplace is a space for US’s indie beauty movement and has launched 130 beauty and wellness brands at US retailers such as Ulta, Target and JCPenney.

“ClearForMe’s partnership with Landing International allows us to pave a new path for ingredient transparency while also advancing ingredient education for all partners in the industry,” adds Sabrina Noorani, founder and CEO at ClearForMe.

Landing International and ClearForMe have partnered to help beauty customers find and support brands aligned with shared values.“Our collaboration with Landing International and the BeautyFluent app is a way to meet beauty advisors and brands where they are using a technology that is already deeply woven into the day-to-day of both stakeholders.”

ClearForMe’s Clickable Ingredients technology provides ingredient education and search capabilities that are reported to be rooted in transparency and personalization. The company works with over 375 partners, including Credo Beauty, Ulta, Rhode, Proudly and Mario Badescu. 

Tech integration on the horizon
Park and Noorani reveal that they plan to combine their technologies and leverage each other’s customer network – enabling greater inclusivity.

ClearForMe has a database of over 1.8 million ingredients which will be searchable by the BeautyFluent app. This will benefit beauty advisors in matching ingredients, interests and values to customers.

“What we’ve seen is that the beauty customer wants access to cleaner, more diverse and socially conscious brands,” says Park. “Landing and ClearForMe help the customer get more of what they want and help brands and retailers win in the process.”

Tech moves in personal care
In recent news, Cetaphil unveiled Cetaphil AI Skin Analysis, a comprehensive skin analyzer offering personalized skin assessment scores and skincare regimen recommendations delivered in seconds. 

Revieve revealed the top digital skincare trends and behaviors in its latest report. Top trends include personalization, hybrid beauty experiences and consumer interaction with digital skincare experiences.

The company also formed a strategic alliance with Google Cloud that will facilitate the beauty industry to accelerate its omnichannel digital transformation toward personalized solutions and strengthen relationship-driven commerce.

At the Beauty Tech & Innovation Summit in February, over 200 industry players gathered in San Francisco, forming a hub showcasing personalized solutions, digital innovations and technical formulation know-how. 

The Estée Lauder Companies UK & Ireland rolled out a first-of-its-kind, AI-powered mobile app – Voice-Enabled Makeup Assistant – to help visually impaired users apply makeup confidently. 

Lastly, Perfect Corp. teamed up with India-based Good Glamm Group to launch virtual try-on and AI skin analysis experiences to revolutionize the shopping experience for its customers.

By Venya Patel