L'Oréal expands social commerce to engage Gen Z

Company leverages TikTok's influence to capture emerging markets.

L'Oréal is seeing a growing interest for beauty across platforms, with Gen Z consuming a lot of beauty content. To benefit from this, the company is positioning itself through social commerce, particularly in the South Asia Pacific and Middle East regions. 

Adrien Koskas, General Manager of Consumer Products for South Asia Pacific, Middle East, and North Africa (SAPMENA) at L’Oréal Groupe, said that the company’s early adoption of social commerce, particularly via TikTok, has been pivotal in reaching this audience. 

Koskas explained, “With TikTok and TikTok shops in Southeast Asia, which is currently booming for us, we can deliver to consumers a lot of education and experiences through live streaming.” These platforms have enabled the company to provide valuable education and experiences to consumers, demonstrating the superiority of their products in real-time.

The recent success of L'Oréal Paris at the Cannes Film Festival, where they live-streamed the event on TikTok, exemplifies their effective use of social commerce. “During that time, L’Oréal Paris has become the number one brand on TikTok in Indonesia,” Koskas revealed.

Diversity and inclusivity remain core values for L'Oréal, shaping both their product offerings and corporate practices. Koskas emphasised, “Diversity for us is mandatory and non-negotiable. It’s a very important value, and we try to bring it in everything we do.” 

This commitment extends to product development, with a focus on inclusivity across various skin tones and types, not to mention the diversity in the people the company recruits and the people they work with.

“We believe at L'Oréal that diversity is a fantastic accelerator for creativity, for growth mindset from a different perspective, and fostering a diverse environment is something we do every day,” he said.

Looking ahead, L'Oréal is preparing for further expansion in social commerce. Koskas noted, “We have many projects in social commerce. The first thing we need to look at is the next market where the TikTok shop will open.” The company is actively assessing which new markets will be added to TikTok’s platform and preparing their teams accordingly to leverage these opportunities.