Innovation in Beauty
The beauty industry is growing rapidly, and consumers are constantly on the lookout for new and innovative products. As we spend increasing amount of time on our smartphones, skincare devices powered by apps have become one of the latest trends.
Devices like the ZIIP nanocurrent skincare device and Foreo UFO are powered through an app which enables for more custom-made skincare tailored to the end-user. These products are designed to perform multiple functions depending on the customers’ needs making this treatment a unique experience. In turn this builds long-term brand loyalty, developing the ability to upsell whilst also setting out a long-term data prerogative which paves the way for skin care product targeting — something you typically see in department store concessions.
Beauty retailers are recognising the value of deploying new technology to enhance customer engagement. The beauty giant L’Oréal recently acquired tech company Modiface, who specialised in AR and AI. Thereafter they developed the Makeup Genius app which allows the consumer to test their products virtually through AR — introducing a “try before you buy” type of approach.
Other cosmetics retailers have taken a similar approach. Mac, for one, has installed in-store AR mirror, whilst Sephora have featured apps in their Beauty Hub capable of product testing, colour matching and elevating social media experience through their snapchat geofilters.
Cosmetics brand NYX have also collaborated with Samsung to create a VR experience for in-store shopping that quickly offers product information on items for a better shopping experience.
It will be interesting to see how these technologies can be integrated with smart assistants such as Alexa in the future, whereby AI can start to handle the relationships between brand and customer. For example, reminding a customer about a particular beauty routine, or understanding product consumption and being able to give subtle reminders about product re-ordering. This fits incredibly well in to the concepts that Amazon introduced previously with the Dash Button and dovetailing this with the abilities of AI we could, for example, see Amazon actually start to become a major player in the beauty industry.
Another incredible development in the market is EpigenCare — a technology startup that recently won the Johnson and Johnson Innovation competition for innovative skincare technologies. As privacy becomes paramount in the world, this incredible start-up shows face as a leader in using blockchain technologies to protect consumer identities whilst also ensuring the records are real and true. This also means consumers can track the use of their data whilst also mitigating the concept of intrusiveness that is often associated with DNA testing.
But what does this mean for old school ecommerce and bricks and mortar stores? It’s an interesting debate as the beauty industry thrives off the human interaction that we often see in department stores all over the world. We’re still in a world where human interaction during the customer journey is incredibly important, but as digital platforms get more detailed and immersive, we’ll very likely see an incredible transition to more trust in digital products and services.
