Historically, salespeople at department shops or door-to-door have fulfilled that position. However these consultants are scarce on-line. Whereas magnificence influencers abound, they normally promote particular merchandise fairly than what shoppers need or want.
“We wish to present the identical degree of service that [customers] get offline within the on-line atmosphere,” Hong mentioned.
Hyper-personalization
Amorepacific was began 80 years in the past by Suh Sungwhan, whose mom, Yun Dokjeong, bottled camellia oil by hand. It was the primary Korean firm to arrange a cosmetics lab within the Nineteen Fifties and to open a magnificence counseling middle within the Sixties. In the present day it’s helmed by Suh’s son, Kyungbae Suh, and its well-known manufacturers embrace Etude, Innisfree and Hera on the entry degree, Laneige a step up and Sulwhasoo on the luxurious finish.
Amorepacific merchandise are offered in additional than 15 markets, the largest being Korea, China and the remainder of Asia Pacific. It is usually making inroads in North America and Europe.
The group was already utilizing AI expertise on its on-line Amore Mall to drive product search, suggestions and pores and skin analysis when generative AI burst onto the scene about three years in the past.
“We noticed how we may make it [the online experience] a conversational service,” mentioned Chikook Noh, Amorepacific’s AI Options Workforce Chief.
The AIBC makes use of OpenAI’s GPT 4o and 4o-mini giant language fashions on Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to reply buyer queries within the app. The underlying knowledge is dealt with with Information Manufacturing facility on Microsoft Cloth and AI Search capabilities in Azure AI Foundry.
The AIBC would assist overcome a spot with the corporate’s current on-line pores and skin analysis device on Amore Mall, Noh mentioned. At present shoppers reply a collection of questions equivalent to “Is your pores and skin oily? (Charge on a scale of 1 to five)” and take an image of their faces. It produces an total rating and dispenses recommendation on skincare and merchandise.
This pores and skin analysis device has been used 2.5 million instances on-line and in shops by shoppers over the past 4 years. The IT division seen an fascinating factor – when used on-line by way of Amore Mall, “the transition to buy tends to be on the decrease aspect,” Noh mentioned. However when utilized in a bodily retailer, “the offline charge may be very excessive as a result of there’s a dialog with the gross sales assistant.”
The AI app goals to offer the sort of recommendation that retailer gross sales assistants present to drive gross sales. Inputs for the AIBC will embrace shoppers’ buy historical past, evaluate historical past in addition to on-line pores and skin analysis. The AIBC will then converse with the buyer to find out their present pores and skin standing and what their issues are.
An important factor is the “hyper-personalization. I do know you. I do know what troubles you might have. I do know what makes you’re feeling good,” Noh mentioned.
Totally different magnificence wants
The AIBC growth workforce anticipates curiosity even from those that don’t use a ton of magnificence merchandise.
Hyejin Yoon, 35, is on the different finish of the buyer spectrum from Kim, the Pilates teacher. A former Chinese language trainer for center and high-schoolers, she now stays house along with her one-year-old child on the outskirts of Seoul.
Earlier than the child, she used varied Amorepacific manufacturers like Hera, Primera and Hanyul. Now there’s solely time for a face wash, a toner and moisturizing cream from Illiyoon, a fragrance-free model geared toward folks with delicate pores and skin. She shares the cream along with her child.
“I’ve no time to placed on so many steps due to the child,” she mentioned.
She seen how her pores and skin modified when she grew to become a mom. “I really feel my pores and skin is getting drier and drier,” she mentioned. “I’m bored with having to maintain attempting completely different merchandise.”
She briefly tried a check model of the AIBC app and mentioned she may see herself utilizing it, particularly if it consists of facial evaluation.
The AI Magnificence Counselor is Amorepacific’s first public-facing use of generative AI.
It follows the group’s roll out in 2023 of a generative AI chat device for inside use, additionally on Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service. That has been used for every thing from summarizing medical analysis articles to creating inside designs for pop-up shops to creating advertising and marketing content material.
For the reason that AIBC entails interacting with the general public, the IT workforce has additionally taken pains to anticipate doubtlessly dangerous topics equivalent to politics and faith. If a shopper touches on these topics, the AIBC will reply: “It is a query we can’t reply,” in line with Hong.
Sooner or later, the aim is for the AIBC to transcend textual content to incorporate voice and pictures and dispense recommendation not simply on skincare but in addition make-up and well being dietary supplements.
High Picture: Sion Kim, a 26-year-old Pilates teacher, mentioned she would use the AI Magnificence Counsellor app to maintain up with seasonal traits and what fits her pores and skin sort. Photograph by Seong Joon Cho for Microsoft.
