SoPost launches in France with Parisian sampling office

28 Sep 2021 --- After launching onto the UK beauty sampling scene in 2014, the sampling technology company SoPost set its sights on the US market by opening its New York office two years later. Now, 2021 marks SoPost’s entry into the French luxury cosmetics marketplace as it unveils its latest branch in Paris. 

The brand featured in a BPC Insights Indie Beauty Conversation earlier this year. CEO Jonny Grubin explained how SoPost took the high-volume, untargeted process of distributing samples and added data, technology and science to get samples to those most likely to want them and follow-up with purchases. In so doing, they sought to bring intelligence to the process while significantly reducing waste. Against a backdrop of new environmental legislation, SoPost is now being unleashed on the French market.

“France is eponymous with cosmetics and luxury, with many of the world’s leading beauty brands rooted in French history and industry,” notes Hélène Tournesac, France Partnerships Director at SoPost, on the brand’s decision to launch into its second European market. “Cosmetics remain a flagship industry in the French economy ranging from the largest global brands with Paris headquarters to the smallest brands all over the French territory.” 

“As a market leader for online sampling in the US and UK, France was the perfect next step for SoPost expansion, as we too are a business deeply embedded in the beauty and cosmetics vertical,” details Tournesac.

Sharing how SoPost has already seen success launching campaigns with French and global brands in the French market, Tournesac emphasizes: “We quickly understood that a local presence was necessary in order to closely support brands and help them innovate and reshape their sampling strategy, particularly by focusing on return on investment, data quality and more sustainable practices.”

Meeting France’s newly-enacted Climate Bill

SoPost is also speaking to brands about the Loi Climat et Resilience proposition, France’s ‘Climate Bill’, which was adopted by Parliament on 20 July. As the French government continues to examine ways to reduce waste, the implementation of a measure that could regulate sampling is possible. If brought into effect, the measure would only enable brands to distribute samples under the condition that they can request a consumer’s explicit consent.

“Even if this does not come into law, we feel strongly that it should still be a best practice for both consumer experience and environmental factors,” stresses Tournesac. “Through SoPost technology, brands can align their sampling efforts with this in mind.” 

Tournesac adds: “French people as a group have become much more concerned with their impact on the environment and the world they will leave behind. Through this lens, the importance of sampling efficiently, with limited wastage, has become a much more key concept. Consumers demand it.” 

Click to EnlargeSoPost’s physical presence in France will help them connect to major brands. Source: SoPost.In France, people still want the opportunity to connect with a brand but also want to trust both the integrity of the product as well as its impact on the globe. “We see that brands are responding to the consumers’ rhetoric, focusing more on innovation, ensuring marketing efforts are extremely targeted and bespoke and controlling the process end-to-end, which limits mass sampling wastage and unfocused distribution,” explains Tournesac. 

After developing and introducing SoPost technology to French beauty consumers and brands, Tournesac says: “[It] allows for freebie hunters to be stopped and real consumers to be engaged, providing a more valuable exchange for the consumer herself.” 

When comparing the French sampling market with US and UK consumer demands, from SoPost’s perspective, SoPost notes how it sees all markets are alike in one facet. “When done well, sampling is a highly desirable exchange between brand and consumer,” Tournesac emphasizes.

“Beyond beauty, fragrance and cosmetics, we also are seeing a huge uptake in consumer packaged goods brands finding value in sampling, something we hope to bring across to France with our experience and depth of knowledge in the vertical,” Tournesac relays.

SoPost sees online product sampling on the rise in France. As a result, the brand hopes to become the go-to sampling solution for elevated French beauty brands and various fast-moving consumer goods names that want to reach more consumers through digital channels and experiences.

Tournesac’s role is to grow a France-based team, based on her experience in the digital, luxury and cosmetics fields. She will also provide insights and apply knowledge of understanding the needs and pain points for brands entering and operating in digital sampling, and how the application of artificial intelligence sampling campaigns can support French luxury cosmetics brands.

By utilizing its on-the-ground team in France, SoPost hopes to improve its support capabilities among global brands in France. The company also has a local warehouse outside Paris which it hopes will help streamline sample shipping within the French market. 

“I’m thrilled to be working with such an innovative company like SoPost, and extremely eager to lead growth in France,” shares Tournesac. “There is an exceptional opportunity here for online sampling.”

“I can’t wait to help brands power-up their digital marketing efforts,” outlines Tournesac. “I also aim to help our brand partners become forward-looking and sustainability-first industry leaders in the French market.” 

By Natasha Spencer-Jolliffe, BPC Insights Senior Journalist