Beautycounter partners with Klarna for livestream series

A specialty clean beauty brand and a global retail bank, payments and shopping service are jointly entering the livestream shopping space.

Beautycounter and Klarna will air a four-episode livestream shopping event from Beautycounter’s LIVE @ Abbot Kinney content studio located in its flagship store in Venice, Calif., beginning Sep. 8, 2021. This is the latest initiative in a series of marketing activations between Klarna and Beautycounter since the two companies initially launched a partnership in August 2020.

The livestream episodes, hosted by Christy Coleman, celebrity makeup artist and chief artistic officer at Beautycounter, will follow the theme of “better beauty.” The series will bring in beauty influencers including Ashley Greene, Christine Kong, and Asia Jackson, along with ingredient safety expert Lindsay Dahl, VP of social mission for Beautycounter, to offer insights, tips, tricks, and techniques for a cleaner and better beauty routine.

Customers will be able to join the livestream sessions at 11 a.m. PT beginning Wednesday, Sep. 8th through a link on the Klarna app or Beautycounter website. Viewers who join will have a chance to win a free Beautycounter gift with purchase at checkout if they shop with Klarna.

The upcoming livestream series is part of Klarna’s wider push into experiential shopping through technology amid rising consumer demand. In July 2021, the company purchased Hero, a social shopping platform designed to provide consumers with inspiration, advice and immediately shoppable content produced directly from retailers' physical stores.

Recently, Klarna also acquired Shoptail, an online comparison shopping service, and Toplooks, an AI-powered styling engine that allows retailers to create shoppable content by suggesting complementary items to consumers across their web and social channels.

Klarna’s own research indicates virtual livestream shopping events show promise, with older audiences as early adopters. While only 25% of shoppers who participated in a recent Klarna survey report having attended a virtual livestream shopping event, 60% of those who have tried it say that it improved their online shopping experience. Baby boomers (28%) and Gen Xers (27%) are more likely to have participated in these events than millennials (23%) or Gen Zers (20%).

“At Beautycounter, 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,” said Blair Lawson, chief merchandising and marketing officer, Beautycounter. “The initiative blends in-store and online shopping environments to give customers an entertaining and easy way to discover and shop our clean beauty products.”

“Liveshopping is rapidly becoming an essential part of the e-commerce experience for customers and brands,” said David Sandström, chief marketing officer, Klarna. “We’re excited to collaborate with Beautycounter to foster meaningful peer-to-peer engagement and create a fun and seamless shopping experience for beauty enthusiasts.”

Founded by Gregg Renfrew in 2011 and launched in 2013, Beautycounter is based in Santa Monica, Calif., and has a brand mission of improved transparency and accountability in the beauty industry, including advocacy.

Over 250,000 retailers in 17 countries, including H&M, Ikea, Expedia Group, Samsung, Asos, Peloton, Abercrombie & Fitch, Nike, and AliExpress have enabled Klarna’s shopping experience online and in-store.