François Turck, General Manager Europe, .reload labs

Testing, changing, moving: the 5ml mini-spray launched by reload labs. is just super-trendy. “As people no longer put perfume on only once a day, in the morning or at night, consumers express the desire to do it whenever they feel like it, and small sizes have become very popular, only one person out of ten takes their perfumes with them when they leave home,” explains François Turck, General Manager Europe of the French start-up. People want to be able to move with their perfumes; they want to discover, test, and change them: reload. targets both uses.

A really waterproof, 100% portable mini-spray

The start-up had to face several challenges to manage to take perfumes out of people’s bathrooms. “The travel size solutions available until then were not very efficient,” François Turck adds. What were their main flaws? They were not really waterproof, and consumers got tired of seeing their precious perfumes evaporate.

So when it designed its mini-spray, reload labs. decided to focus on this aspect as well as on the various refill systems and the final appearance of the product. The idea was to develop a reloadable flask to be inserted into a spray packaged with an interchangeable, customizable case.

Consumers can reload the flask with their own perfumes, either with the funnel provided, or with the valve designed to be attached to the perfume bottle pump, after removing the pump protection on the spray. They can also buy full refills to discover as many new perfumes as they wish, thanks to an exclusive patented system.

And they can enjoy the same flexibility with the case. Although the original one is black or white, consumers will be able to purchase separate cases, and even create one in their own image on byreload.com, which features cases in different colours and with endless decorations: printed ones, others covered with leather, or made of aluminium or Zamak…

The reload. reloadable mini-spray is available in its box for EUR19.90, and is provided together with its empty refill and funnel specifically designed to avoid discharges.

Discovering, changing, choosing

As for the pre-filled refills, they cost 5 euros and are available from the dedicated piece of furniture in selective perfume shops, where empty sprays are also sold. They make it possible for consumers to test perfumes over time. The packaging containing the refills is marketed with a voucher that bears a single number, which enables to generate a EUR5 reduction voucher online when purchasing the real size product (as from 50ml), and therefore reimburse the cost of the refill tested.

Our study results show we can consider a 15 to 20% conversion rate, which is much higher than any other recruiting tool,” François Turck concludes.

Partnerships have already been concluded with about ten brands (Issey Miyake, Arden, Kenzo, Givenchy, Hugo Boss…). In Europe, reload. was launched in early October in approximately twenty countries, in particular via the Douglas network (Nocibé in France), via Manor in Switzerland, and Ici Paris XL in Belgium and Luxembourg. It will be launched before the end of the year in the Middle East in partnership with the Chalhoub Group, and should be available in the United States in 2016.

As for its debuts in France, Nocibé offers to test the eaux de parfum Jeu d’Amour by Kenzo, Dahlia Divin and Pi by Givenchy, Hugo Man, Hugo Woman and Bottled by Hugo Boss, and L’Eau d’Issey pour Homme by Issey Miyake. Reload. has thought about launching temporary collections with these perfume houses to increase brands’ visibility: an exclusive, limited selection of references only available for a few months to discover fragrances in a completely innovative, unique way.

Industrial partners

In order to design its product, reload., a new player on the perfumery market, approached the Ileos Group, but also Arcade Beauty (formerly known as Bioplan) and Axilone for their know-how in the field of injection and conditioning. “The company contacted us for our expertise in small size diffusers and our know-how in terms of full-service solutions”, explains Stéphane Frémiot, Senior VIP Sales Europe at Arcade Beauty, who initiated the project.

The body, the pushbutton, the internal spring tube, and the interchangeable case make up the upper part of the spray. They are injected at Axilone Plastique, in their plant located in Auray, Brittany, France, and then they are assembled together. The Zamak base adapted to this upper part is supplied by another company, Pack-Man.

The initial specifications were designed to make refills interchangeable, while guaranteeing efficient watertightness and quality spraying”, explains Virginie Muntaner-Verdeille, Key Account Manager at Axilone. “We started from a first drawing provided by reload., and then we designed the spray. We had to integrate all the functional elements in an object that presented a lot of constraints in terms of size and design. We adapted the product to industrialization and gave reload. some advice on the materials to be used in this type of product.

We chose not to develop a new pump, but to start from an existing engine suited for a specific spray. It is the SP5 pump engine by Albéa, the mini-pump specialist, that was selected. Albéa designed a special connecting element which obtained a patent for its diameter and height in order to guarantee the unique nature of the refills.

Lastly, Arcade Beauty is responsible for reloading the refills, installing the covers, and printing the batch-codes on the cases. And the result is displayed with furniture manufactured in France by Como.

All in all, 200,000 sprays were produced to implement the concept, and 500,000 more will be available before the end of December.