Perfect Corp.’s annual franchise event, the Global Beauty and Fashion Tech Forum, returned to in-person format on June 21st in New York City, gathering industry leaders from the most innovative brands across beauty, tech and media to explore the impactful ways artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) technologies are transforming the consumer experience. This year’s event focused on the digital transformation and the era of Web 3.0, with presentations and panels shedding light on the global rise of beauty and fashion technologies in retail.
The programming began with a keynote presentation from Perfect Corp.’s Founder and CEO, Alice Chang, touching upon the rapid expansion of AI and AR technologies into new categories, as well as the importance of these technologies for building personalized and immersive shopping experiences, and the role technology plays in supporting sustainable business practices. The event included insightful panels with speakers from The Estée Lauder Companies, Snap Inc., Allure, NARS Cosmetics, Coty, Belcorp, Real Simple, e.l.f. Cosmetics, WWD, NuSkin, Beekman 1802, BeautyMatter, Glossy, AWE, Super Ventures, Bambumeta, and Wake Forest School of Medicine. The insightful panels and presentations explored the important role that AI + AR will play in the future of retail and gave attendees a first-hand look at the impactful results that brands have experienced when implementing AI + AR tech throughout their consumer journeys.
Ushering in the Next Era of Digital Transformation in Retail with AI + AR Technology
The conference showcased the many ways AI + AR technology is revolutionizing retail, powering the future of beauty and fashion and enabling personalized shopping experiences while driving increased sales, customer engagement, and brand loyalty.
Live technology demonstrations highlighted several of Perfect Corp.’s most innovative AI + AR solutions including the new AgileHand Technology, which utilizes advanced PBR (Physical Based Rendering) to deliver hyper-realistic virtual try-ons for watches, rings, bracelets and nail color. Live demos also spotlighted Perfect Corp.’s comprehensive suite of beauty and fashion tech solutions, including the new YouCam Tutorial makeup learning platform, which provides consumers with step-by-step makeup tutorials complete with guided narration.
The in-depth panel discussions explored the role of AI + AR technology in beauty and fashion retail, as well as the emerging Web 3.0 space. Here are the top five technology trends shared at the Forum:
The Global Adoption of AI + AR
There has been remarkable growth of technology innovation and brands are leveraging these solutions faster than ever to drive their businesses. Brands investing in these technologies are growing in the double digits, and consumers have come to expect customized shopping experiences powered by AI and AR technology when shopping online, in-store, and through social commerce. During the forum, brand leaders emphasized the importance of interactive, AI-powered solutions for creating fun, immersive and entertaining shopping experiences for consumers. It was clear that AI + AR technology has become table stakes for brands to succeed today, and is an essential tool for brands to leverage in order to facilitate and deliver these new-age, hyper-engaged shopping experiences.
The Growing Importance of Personalization Throughout the Consumer Shopping Journey:
Beauty and fashion consumers today are more likely to purchase from brands that provide personalized recommendations. AI + AR technology has become a must-have tool for beauty and fashion brands to leverage when looking to provide personalized shopping experiences to their customer base. One panel focused on the many ways AI is transforming the skincare retail journey, with speakers highlighting how AI technology is helping consumers identify the best product regimen for their individual skin concerns, as well as track skin results over time. This type of tailored, personalized user experience is one we will continue to see more and more brands deliver to meet consumer demand.
The Role of AI + AR Tech in Sustainability:
The widespread adoption of AI + AR virtual try-on technology has helped brands transition from physical sampling to a fully digital platform sampling initiative. For many brands, this technology has eliminated the need for physical product samples and helped reduce product waste. During the forum, brand speakers discussed the many ways AR technology is helping to increase purchasing confidence and helping to minimize product returns for a more sustainable and eco-friendly retail landscape. It was clear, sustainability and accountability remain top areas of focus for brand strategies and AI and AR virtual try-on technologies continue to offer unique solutions that help businesses today meet and prioritize their ESG goals.
The Rapid Expansion of AI + AR Tech into New Categories:
Although the use of AI + AR across in the beauty space is on the rise, the implementation of technologies are quickly expanding to new categories across the fashion and accessories industries. Advanced fashion tech solutions for jewelry (including earrings, bracelets, rings, and luxury timepieces), eyewear, and accessories have been introduced, with plans to expand into clothing and apparel in the near future.
A Demand for Cohesive Omni-Channel Beauty and Fashion Tech Experiences
In order to maximize the impact of technology solutions, brands need to leverage AI and AR across all consumer touchpoints in order to meet consumers where they are. In the event keynote address, Perfect Corp. Founder and CEO Alice Chang discussed the importance of using AI + AR technology to create personalized shopping experiences and noted that brands integrating AI and AR-powered solutions across omni-channel touchpoints have reported up to 3X engagement and +200 % increases in purchase rate. Staggering results from brand partners were echoed throughout the conference, further proving the application and effectiveness of these advanced technology solutions.
