Henkel is delighted to announce it has acquired a 51 per cent stake in eSalon, a custom at-home hair colour business. It was agreed that financial details of the transaction would not be disclosed.
For Henkel, who owns hair care brand Schwarzkopf, the venture represents a further strengthening of its hair colouration business as well as an investment in a purely digital model.
Launched in 2010, and a four-time winner of Allure Magazine’s “Best Home Hair Color,” eSalon is a digital, one-to-one experience that creates a personalised product using a combination of human expertise and dual patented technology. After an online survey is completed, an expert individually crafts a hair colour blend which is then sent straight to the consumers door. They can either make a one-off purchase or sign up for a subscription service.
“We continue to drive the execution of our strategy by strengthening our portfolio and our digital capabilities through targeted investments. With this joint venture, we aim to grow our core business and at the same time expand in an innovative digital business model. The strong eSalon business which addresses the growing trend of personalization in beauty care will be a perfect fit. We expect to gain valuable consumer insights that will also help us to create meaningful innovations for our classical retail consumers,” says Jens-Martin Schwärzler, executive vice president for Henkel’s Beauty Care business.
According to a media release, eSalon has experienced growth with its expansion into international markets. The company saw sales of $US30 million for fiscal 2018, mostly in the US market, according to WWD.
