L’Oréal Travel Retail Asia Pacific and Alipay+ have expanded their partnership, which began in 2020 in Hainan and Macau. The collaboration has now been extended to reach over 100 million outbound Chinese travellers in global destinations, starting with October’s Golden Week in Thailand and Dubai.

The alliance – described as the first of its kind within the travel retail beauty industry – aims to facilitate a thorough understanding of consumer insights and purchasing behaviours across regions.

The partnership combines the advanced digital solutions of Alipay+ technology with L’Oréal’s diverse portfolio of brands in both online and offline touchpoints, connecting global shoppers to traveller-centric brand experiences.

It also answers the need for seamless shopping while travelling, alongside accessible, personalised beauty offers.

“This collaboration between L’Oréal Travel Retail Asia Pacific and Alipay+ is a significant leap forward for the new Trinity between brands, retailers, and platforms,” explained L’Oréal Travel Retail Asia Pacific Managing Director Tao Zhang.

“In an era where the travel retail landscape is undergoing transformative changes, we seek to captivate modern travellers by offering them a seamless shopping experience empowered by deep insights and digital technology, at the right place, right time.”

“Since the start of the collaboration, we have onboarded more than 10 brands with over 50 activations in just one year, scaling this to reach our global shoppers,” noted L’Oréal Travel Retail Asia Pacific Chief Marketing Officer Joyce Lui. “For the first time, in-depth insights shared collectively by both parties can enable a more precise and enjoyable end-to-end journey for travellers.”

“Travellers today have greater expectations in the way they engage with brands as they travel the world, particularly in the use of technology to enhance their experience,” commented Dr Cherry Huang, General Manager of Alipay+ Offline Merchant Services, Ant Group.

“As we strengthen our partnership with L’Oréal Travel Retail Asia Pacific, not only can we offer immediate benefits of convenient payments and exclusive rewards, we are also looking to the future to further personalise the shopper experience, both online and offline.”

Recent L’Oréal Travel Retail activations powered by Alipay+ were introduced in collaboration with China Duty Free Group (CDFG), King Power Group and Dubai Duty Free.

CDFG Deputy General Manager of Perfume and Cosmetics Department, Central Merchandising Division, Dorothy Liu, added: “This collaboration between L’Oréal Travel Retail and Alipay+ makes beauty accessible to all in the realm of duty-free shopping in the cdf Mall, ensuring a synchronized online and offline experience.”

READ MORE: L’Oréal and DFS unveil debut Maison Margiela pop-up at Samaritaine Paris

READ MORE: L’Oréal TRAP on “pushing boundaries” to enhance the customer experience