Cosnova, one of Europe’s fastest-growing beauty companies, wanted to go beyond simply offering more foundation shades. With Arbelle’s Shade Finder, they empowered consumers with seamless digital guidance that bridges offline and online shopping environments, showcasing how to use technology for real value and trust among consumers.
- 90% consumer satisfaction with Shade Finder
- 20% increase in add-to-cart rate
- +45,000 consumer sessions
- Developed and trained with real consumers
Cosnova: Making beauty inclusive, accessible, and personal
For over 20 years, cosnova – the company behind essence and Catrice – has been driven by one belief: everyone deserves to feel beautiful. Today, the company is considered a global leader, bringing high-quality, innovative products to consumers in more than 90 countries.
In 2024, cosnova surpassed $1 billion in yearly sales, cementing its position as Europe’s best-selling color cosmetics brand by volume.
To stay true to its mission of democratizing beauty and offering the best consumer experience, cosnova has taken a step further by making beauty tech accessible to everyone. Digital solutions like the Shade Finder are the result of this strategy of offering innovative, reliable, and inclusive technology to the mass market, not just to luxury consumers.
The challenge: Building digital solutions that create trust and value
Arbelle’s Shade Finder technology was enhanced in close collaboration with cosnova, whose consumer-centric approach guided the project. From the beginning, the focus was on inclusivity and fairness: ensuring the technology worked equally well for all skin tones and backgrounds.
Recognizing that technology can introduce bias, together, we worked to make the product more inclusive and fair by grounding it in real diversity, i.e., training with diverse consumer panels.
This helped create a truly reliable and inclusive experience – a key pillar in building long-term trust with beauty consumers.
As cosnova put it:
“We didn’t just want another digital solution, but a service commitment – focused on delivering value while maintaining our brand promise to the consumers.”
– Stephanie Anttonen, Senior Innovation Hub Manager
The solution: Arbelle’s Shade Finder
To meet this challenge, cosnova turned to Arbelle and our AI-powered Shade Finder – a solution that was fully adapted and customized to reflect their brand and consumer needs, while offering a sense of support and personalization that mimics offline shopping.
- Seamless online guidance. Instantly supports shoppers with intuitive, AI-driven shade recommendations and virtual try-on that replicate the personalized experience of offline shopping.
- Built on inclusivity. Trained on diverse real consumer panels, especially with people of color, ensuring representation and trust often missing in traditional technologies.
- Market intelligence. Delivers actionable insights into how different markets engage with products. This helps cosnova tailor assortments, reduce shade redundancy, and align launches with consumer demand.
- Intentional product development. Instead of guessing what products regions might need, cosnova can now make data-backed decisions that improve efficiency.
“We needed a partner who understood our consumer-centric mission when it comes to technology. Arbelle’s Shade Finder gave us the accuracy and inclusivity we were looking for, while being flexible enough to adapt to our brand and markets, and truly be custom-tailored to our needs.”
– Stephanie Anttonen, Senior Innovation Hub Manager
Results: Measurable impact on consumers and business
Since implementing Shade Finder, cosnova has seen results that are both consumer-facing and strategically valuable:
- Over 90% consumer satisfaction, proving Shade Finder is a reliable, user-friendly tool that adds value for shoppers.
- Over 20% increase in add-to-cart rates, showing that personalization drives measurable growth and boosts online sales.
- +45,000 consumer sessions analyzed, creating a powerful source of insights into consumer behavior and preferences across various countries.
“Since implementing the Shade Finder, we’ve seen a clear impact – consumers are more confident in their purchases, and we now have reliable insights to guide product development across markets.”
– Stephanie Anttonen, Senior Innovation Hub Manager
At the heart of it all: Digital innovation as a trust-building tool for the mass market
For cosnova, success is not just about shade matching. It’s about leveraging digital innovation to empower consumers, foster trust, and make personalization accessible at scale. Arbelle’s Shade Finder enables them to deliver on both fronts: building consumer trust and creating smarter product strategies tailored to diverse markets.
Ready to see what Arbelle’s Shade Finder can do for your brand? Contact us today!
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