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Skincare Chatbots
The L'Oreal Beauty Gifter, the Covergirl Kalanibot, Sephora's Reservation Assistant and Virtual Assist bots, and Estee Lauder's Foundation and Lipstick Finder bots are among chatbots being used by large beauty and skincare brands.
Covergirl's Kalanibot
- CoverGirl launched the Kalanibot in November 2016 as the first-ever influencer chatbot in the world. It was based on the teenage dancer and television celebrity Kalani Hilliker. Kalanibot delivers makeup tips and recommendations as well as coupons.
- According to TopBots, Kalanibot has personality and humor and it is energetic, conversational, and chatty. Research reveals that the chatbot has recorded 91% positive feedback and "51% click-through on coupons delivered." Also, 14 times more messages are sent to the chatbot than to Kalani.
- Kalanibot analyses Kalani's personality and simulates her conversational style to provide customers with a realistic experience. Covergirl reports that about 50% of the fans who have interacted with Kalanibot have received coupons.
- TopBots reports that while multiple choices allow for smooth flow of conversations with Kalanibot, the chatbot still falls short in predictive typing as it does not provide many results when customers type out their responses.
L’Oreal Beauty Gifter
- L'Oreal launched the Beauty Gifter in April 2017 as the "first-ever multi-brand product recommendation bot." The chatbot provides customers with highly accurate recommendations for gifts across nine of the brand's top products.
- Research shows that the chatbot has recorded "31% rich profile collection," and 27 times more engagement than email marketing. Also, 82% of users reported that they loved the experience. The Beauty Gifter is optimized for Facebook Messenger and can support the use of QR codes.
- The L'Oreal chatbot interacts with both the gift giver and the gift recipient. It asks the gift giver as series of questions including the price range and the recipient's age. After the gift recipient receives a card from the giver, the bot asks them questions such as their skin type and their preferred color combinations. Then Beauty Gifter generates "personalized product recommendations" through machine learning.
Sephora's Bots
- In April 2016, Sephora became the first beauty brand to launch a Kik chatbot. Sephora has launched three bots across Messenger and Kik to provide color matching, makeup tips, and booking for in-store appointments.
- Sephora's Reservation Assistant and Virtual Assist work with the Facebook Messenger while the Sephora Kik bot works on Kik. The Reservation Assistant books appointments for makeovers at Sephora's stores, the color-matching Virtual Assistant pairs makeup shades, and the Kik bot provides reviews, informational videos, and makeup tips.
- Statistics show that Sephora's Reservation Assistant has 11% higher conversion rate compared to other appointment booking channels. Also, it offers 62% fewer steps to appointment booking.
Estee Lauder
- The renowned beauty brand with over $11 billion in annual sales uses several bots to drive customer engagement. Its first chatbot was launched in November 2016 in the United Kingdom.
- Estee Lauder leverages artificial intelligence (AR) technology to create conversational bots. It launched its Lipstick Adviser bot in July 2017 and, although the company declines to provide specifics, it reports that its website and conversations traffic have gone up ever since. The company's Foundation Finder bot, which helps clients identify most suitable foundation shades, is available to users in the United States and the United Kingdom.
- The Lipstick Adviser bot's AR selfie feature allows customers to search and try on the brand's array of lip shades before making purchases. The Foundation Finder interacts with clients to provide "personalized shade recommendations" as per their finish and color preferences.