If there is one word we hear everywhere these days, it is digitalisation. Whether referring to artificial intelligence, new apps, improvement of industrial processes or project optimisation, the digital universe that the cosmetics industry can take advantage of is enormous.
It has been 5 years since Stanpa, the National Association of Perfumery and Cosmetics, presented its Digitalisation Plan for the Cosmetics Industry with the aim of guiding companies in the sector on the road to digital transformation. In these 5 years in which digitalisation has taken an important leap forward, we have seen several interesting developments: logistical processes have been automated, digital tools have been created to virtually test colour cosmetics or to analyse the damage caused by the sun on our skin, systems have been developed to analyse the traceability of ingredients or even to associate fragrances with feelings and design perfumes that meet consumer expectations. The Digital Beauty Awards, the national awards for digitalisation and e-commerce in cosmetics, perfumery and personal care, were even born in 2021, recognising the work of professionals, companies and institutions that stand out in the sector, giving a notable boost and great visibility to digitalisation as a tool to be more competitive and, of course, more innovative.
Experts such as José Carlos Cortizo, CMO of Product Hackers, recently commented that "we are still in time to avoid being left out of the game, but we are already in discount time", statements in line with those made in 2018 by Val Díez, CEO of Stanpa, who commented that "everything that can be digitised will be digitised, everything that can be connected will be connected and everything that can be analysed will be analysed. If you don't do it, someone else will". This last sentence seems to me to be very accurate because, if you don't do it, your competition will not stand idly by. I believe that, following the statements of these two experts, companies should have a strategic digitalisation plan, which will allow them to be more efficient, more visible and, of course, more competitive.
Digitisation along the value chain
Digitalisation in the cosmetics industry is more developed in end-product manufacturers and somewhat less in raw material manufacturers, but in recent years leading companies such as BASF have created very useful tools for formulators, such as the Surfactant Navigator, which is ideal for formulating hygiene products. This service, based on systematic experiments and predictive computational modelling, allows cosmetic industry technicians to make faster progress in the first steps of a project by recommending surfactant combinations that meet their needs, always with a focus on sustainability but without losing efficacy or sensoriality.
The perfumery sector is not lagging behind in this digital revolution either. Puig, one of the best-known Spanish companies, has developed Air Parfum, a technology that swept the Digital Beauty Awards in 2022. This innovation allows the consumer to try different perfumes without saturating the sense of smell, as the fragrance is emitted with less alcohol and more air in its composition.
As we have seen in these examples, digitalisation has gone from being a trend to one of the main drivers of our sector and many others. It is up to us to jump on the bandwagon or be left behind.