Digital retailer Very, which is operated by The Very Group, has launched virtual make-up try-on features that use augmented reality to allow customers to discover and choose products that best match their needs.
Using ModiFace technology, customers shopping on Very’s app can virtually try on 24 lip products by L’Oréal Paris, Maybelline and NYX. Working with Modiface, the retailer plans to expand the use of augmented reality across more make-up, hair colour and nail products, to create a more immersive beauty shopping experience.
On Very’s mobile website, beauty customers can use Benefit Brow Try-on technology to experiment with different eyebrow styles, shades and shapes, and receive recommendations on the products required to create those looks.
The Very Group has a track record of improving customer experience through digital innovation, including via its artificial intelligence-powered Very Assistant chatbot. The chatbot recognises and understands natural language to resolve 50 types of customer query and is now the retailer’s largest customer service channel, answering an average of 344,000 chats monthly in FY22 (+37.6% year-on-year).
In addition, over the last 12 months the retailer has made significant progress with its multi-year technology investment roadmap, moving towards a more flexible, cloud-based architecture that will enable it to deliver customer experience improvements faster and more frequently than ever before. This includes the ongoing transformation of its ecommerce platform through a partnership with commercetools, providing personalised size and fit guidance by working with True Fit, and creating enriched, engaging content by partnering with Amplience.
Paul Hornby, digital customer experience director at The Very Group, commented: “Technology is a powerful tool in creating immersive, personalised digital customer experiences and we’re excited to be bringing that to life for customers shopping our beauty category by working with big brands like L’Oréal Paris and Benefit.
“We’re also exploring the use of augmented reality across other categories like fashion, home and electrical. By using tech to bring our customers closer to products, we can recreate the in-person shopping experience online, and give them even greater confidence that they’re choosing the right products for them.”
Lou Bennett, marketing director at Benefit Cosmetics, said: “As the UK and global number one brow brand, the Benefit Brow Try-On, from Benefit Cosmetics, is brow innovation at its best. By partnering with Very, we’ve enabled existing and new customers to have a highly personalised brow experience, explore the best recommended brow shape for their facial features and try on the world’s leading brow products from the comfort of their device.”
