The afternoon kicked off with a ‘future-focused’ panel discussion that delved into the dynamic evolution of retail and specifically the latest innovations transforming the beauty and luxury industry. The panel included Céline de Robillard, Omnichannel Director for VISEO, Dais Arai IT Transformation Director from L’Oréal, Marco Lim the Commercial Director APAC for Cegid, Chloe Cortinovis Managing Director of Bienvenue Factory.
The speakers highlighted groundbreaking initiatives spearheaded by L’Oréal and other leading retailers, demonstrating how digital technology is reshaping the shopping experience.
Topics covered included the ‘Evolution of Retail’ in the beauty and luxury industry, how to enhance the customer experience and importantly, future retail trends and innovations, including AI-Powered Retail Strategies.
The discussion began with Dais, who was asked to share the latest L’Oréal initiatives.
“Ultra-personalisation is where L’Oréal is focused. L’Oréal is focused on inventing the future of beauty and becoming a Beauty Tech powerhouse. To do so, we are always innovating.”
He spoke about several innovations.
Firstly, L’Oréal has launched ‘Beauty for Each, Powered by Beauty Tech’. They include a portfolio of skin and hair diagnostics, a GenAI-powered personal beauty assistant, a GenAI Beauty Content Lab called CREAITECH to augment creativity, a revolutionary hair dryer based on infrared light technology, a micro-resurfacing device for advanced skincare performance, and the most realistic, human skin-like technology platform for scientific research and product testing.
“Our CREAITECH GenAI Beauty Content Lab is a testament to what a human hand and a GenAI tool can achieve together in creativity.”
L’Oréal’s recently acquired Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence entity, ModiFace, and L’Oréal Research Innovation have announced the launch of a digital skin diagnostic for consumers based on 15 years of scientific research on skin aging by L’Oréal Research and Investment evaluation teams.
Celine advised that 20% of beauty brand sales will be done online by 2025 and 41% of luxury beauty sales take place in APAC. Over US $700 billion in revenue will be generated via live streamlining commerce in Asia by 2023.
Dias said that L’Oréal’s online customer experience starts by understanding customers and that their AI-driven Skin Diagnostic enables them to better understand their customers.
“We can then offer personalised products and skin routines. We can offer future-proofed beauty.”
Celine warned that a bad experience can destroy digital at a single touch point. It could be in information search, transaction processing, or delivery confirmation. She suggested it was vital for retailers to get this right.
“The digital experience should replicate the in-store physical experience.”
Marco anticipated future tech trends retailers were currently exploring. His research found that 70% were exploring data analytics and big data, 48% contactless payments, and 44% were looking at how to implement Generative AI into their businesses.
“But what is relevant is different for every business, he advised.”
According to the latest market intelligence research report by InsightAce Analytic, the global Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Beauty and Cosmetics market size is expected to reach US$ 13.34 Billion in 2030, record a promising CAGR of 19.7% from 2021 to 2030.
The beauty and cosmetic sector has witnessed a massive upsurge in Artificial Intelligence (AI) in recent years. Due to advancements in AI technologies and the fact that beauty is characterised as a personalised and engaging market that generates a large amount of data, AI appears to be a solution to deal with this complex environment, prompting beauty companies to make data-driven decisions on their strategies to remain competitive.
The beauty market has changed dramatically over the last decade, owing to the introduction of new technology and a shift in customer shopping behaviour. The beauty sector has been incorporating digital transformation into its business models to give consumers individualised skin regimens and beauty products tailored to their specific needs.
