Beautycounter and Klarna launch livestreaming series

5 Oct 2021 --- US clean skin care and cosmetics brand Beautycounter is launching its latest marketing initiative - a four-part livestreaming series called Better Beauty - with Swedish online financial services company, Klarna. Sharing what spurred the collaboration, which began in August 2020, David Sandström, Chief Marketing Officer at Klarna, reveals the duo teamed up “to offer beauty shoppers a more convenient and flexible way to pay online”.

The duo spotted an opportunity to reach consumers through the livestreaming format as demand for receiving beauty information this way is proving popular with digital shoppers. Livestream shopping is expected to become a US$25bn industry in the United States by 2023, Klarna cites based on Coresight research. “With livestream shopping on the rise in the US, this was a natural next step in our partnership to offer customers an even more entertaining way to discover and shop their favorite clean beauty products,” notes Sandström.

Click to EnlargeThe livestreams are fronted by familiar names from the beauty industry. Source: Beautycounter.Detailing how Klarna approached the livestreaming opportunity with Beautycounter's domestic consumer base, Sandström relays: “As livestream shopping gains rapid momentum, there is a massive opportunity within the beauty industry to reach new audiences and offer a more entertaining, convenient way to shop and pay.”

According to Klarna’s 2021 Reopening Insights Report, 60% of customers who had tried livestream shopping say it improved their online shopping experience. With consumers seeking authentic brands to engage with, Klarna pursued its ongoing goal to explore how to bring more immersive, innovative shopping experiences to its 20 million US customers, and to also showcase its global network of 250,000 retailers. 

Sharing why Klarna believes livestreaming has garnered so much popularity and success in the beauty industry, Sandström asserts: “Livestream shopping gives retailers the opportunity to connect with their customers in more authentic ways, through influencers and content creators who already have a loyal following. This facilitates the type of peer-to-peer social interaction that customers miss from the in-store shopping experience and which e-commerce has been lacking up until now.”

Building a community

From the outset of the livestreaming campaign, the goal was to use the opportunity to test and learn from the experience. The metrics that Beautycounter and Klarna are looking at as part of the campaign include viewership, engagement, sales, new customer acquisition and brand awareness as they focus on building a community of shoppers.

“Over the past year, consumers have become increasingly conscious of what they put in and on their bodies,” reveals Sandström. Klarna’s 2021 Beauty Survey reveals that for younger generations the biggest consideration when shopping for beauty products is “natural, non-toxic ingredients”. Gen Z and Millennials were also more inclined to buy cruelty-free and vegan products than their older counterparts, the findings reveal. 

Click to EnlargeThe boardcasts form part of a wider engagement with influencer marketing. Source: Klarna.In the latest example of the two companies’ joint marketing activities, their four-episode livestream series aired live from Beautycounter’s Abbot Kinney content studio located in their flagship store in Venice, California. The episodes, hosted by celebrity makeup artist and Chief Artistic Officer at Beautycounter Christy Coleman, comprise the theme Better Beauty. The livestreams feature familiar faces in the beauty industry including Ashley Greene, Christine Kong, and Asia Jackson, along with ingredient safety expert Lindsay Dahl, SVP of Social Mission for Beautycounter. They offer insights, tips, tricks and techniques for a cleaner and better beauty routine.

“The livestream episodes center around what Beautycounter is best known for - enabling shoppers to live a cleaner and better beauty lifestyle,” adds Sandström.

Blair Lawson, Beautycounter’s Chief Merchandising and Marketing Officer, remarks: “We're always seeking new and interesting ways to build meaningful connections with our community and to meet them wherever they are. Our partnership with Klarna builds on Beautycounter's efforts to innovate the livestream shopping experience as a way to do just that.”

The duo’s four-part livestreaming beauty series is part of Klarna’s wider strategic push towards experiential shopping through digital platforms. Klarna has recently acquired Apprl, a performance-based influencer marketing company for e-commerce brands, as well as the marketing agency Hero. Following the acquisitions, Klarna hopes to showcase how brands can engage in influencer marketing and bring the best of the in-store shopping experience to social shopping.

By Natasha Spencer-Jolliffe, BPC Insights Senior Journalist