Foresight 02: Is recycled carbon the future of fragrance?
A bi-weekly newsletter diving into the concepts, people and brands who are shaping the future of fashion, beauty and retail.
Welcome back to Foresight!
This week we’re diving into carbon capture, one of the biggest opportunities of this decade as NYU professor Scott Galloway puts it. If you haven’t listened to The Pivot, a podcast with Scott and Kara Swisher on the biggest stories in tech, it’s a must-listen. We’ll also be covering live shopping, another significant opportunity for brands and a concept we will continue to revisit.
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IDEAS, INSIGHTS & FORWARD THINKING PERSPECTIVES
How recycled carbon is changing the future of fragrance.
One of the world’s largest fragrance companies, Coty (think Gucci, Burberry, and Chloé), is aiming to make the majority of its fragrances using ethanol from captured industrial carbon emissions by 2023. In partnership with biotech company LanzaTeck, Coty will use ethanol recycled from industrial gasses like CO2 produced in steel manufacturing. The carbon capture ethanol reduces the need for agricultural land, uses nearly no water, and prevents carbon emissions from being released. “LanzaTech sees a future in which our everyday products are all made from recycled carbon waste, and though most people probably never imagined they’d wear fragrances made from ethanol that starts out as pollution, Coty thinks this partnership will be in line with what their customers want.”
Carbon capture technology is an essential step in removing the detrimental amounts of carbon we’ve put into the atmosphere and is a massive market opportunity, $6T to get specific, for consumer goods companies looking to lower their environmental impact. With more consumers rightly demanding that their favourite brands share their commitment to sustainability and work towards a circular economy—recycling waste gases is a major step. Unsurprisingly, the big beauty players need to make the first move. Coty is a significant player and I would love to see other luxury brands bring similar innovative thinking to the table.
Will live shopping shape retails next transformation?
Where do we begin with live shopping? We could be here all day talking about it given that this type of commerce has the potential to completely alter the way we shop. If you’re new to the concept, I recommend this comprehensive read from Shopify that questions if live shopping is the future of e-commerce. Spoiler, it is.
China pioneered the livestream shopping movement generating billions in sales every year ($63B in 2020) primarily driven by Gen-Z and Millennials. Live shopping blends entertainment, product discovery, and purchasing with a real-time feedback loop where consumers can read reviews, get recommendations, and ask questions all in one place. Insert my new favourite term; “shoppertainment”. The host, typically a KOL (key opinion leader) such as an influencer or celebrity, is a crucial part of the event as their ability to sell determines the success of the livestream. Live shopping platform Livescale, puts emphasis on the importance of a KOS (key opinion seller) as a host, who is an elevated KOL that is either an internal brand member or an experienced KOL with product-specific expertise for high conversion.
Brands owning the space? L’Oréal, Rebecca Minkoff and Beautycounter to name a few. I expect brands to spend 2021 testing the waters and carefully watching if competitors jump on board. With social e-commerce in China being highly developed, it’s no surprise that we’ve seen several trends come from the region and it looks like live shopping is on a similar path. With e-commerce in North America on the cusp of total transformation, there’s a moment here for brands and retailers to take advantage of the changing landscape to re-build a model for selling that works with the digital age we’re living in.
WHAT I’M READING
Douyin (China’s TikTok) offers flagship stores for brands
How brands can tap the future of social
Is retail missing an opportunity is wellness tech?
L’Oréal invests in environmental tech start-up Gjosa
Look Labs creates “world’s first digital fragrance” as NFT