Sampler acquires Abeo to expand beauty portfolio

Sampler, an omnichannel product sampling platform, announced the acquisition of Abeo, a digital beauty sampling agency.

This act helps Sampler to further expand into the beauty market and stimulate its growth in Europe and the United States, where Abeo’s offices can be found.

The acquisition is an important step in this direction as samples and trials are a crucial part of beauty shoppers’ decision making. 50 percent of them state that free samples convert them to a purchase.

Marie Chevrier, Sampler CEO & founder said in the release: “The beauty industry was an early adopter of digital product sampling, and we have continued to see innovation, new use cases, and opportunities pop up in the category in recent years. Through this acquisition and ongoing partnership, the combined entity will uniquely position Sampler as the global leader in omnichannel product sampling.”

In the frame of the transaction, Arcade Beauty, the founding company of Abeo, will receive a minority stake in Sampler and a commercial partnership agreement has been signed by the businesses, enabling brands to work with both of them to develop end-to-end promotional activity solutions.

“While we will maintain our legacy as the product innovator for our valued customers, we recognize Abeo’s journey is best suited with a partner that carries our same vision and brings added expertise in digital sampling. Equally, we are excited to enter into a new partnership with Sampler to deliver unique value propositions to our brand partners serving end-to-end sampling solutions,” added Jorge Garcia, executive vice president and CFO of Arcade Beauty.

Sampler was founded in 2013 and is now operating in 23 countries. It has worked with brands of different industries, such as personal care, candy, beverage and beauty, including Procter & Gamble, Target and Unilever.