The pandemic made it impossible for consumers to visit department store beauty counters. Augmented reality (AR) provided a solution. 
 
Perfect Corp, developer of the award-winning suite of YouCam virtual beauty apps, partnered with Bobbi Brown to provide interactive virtual beauty consultations. To take the idea one step further, Perfect Corp’s AR technology for virtual try-ons now allows Bobbi Brown artists to provide an elevated level of personalized recommendations at the touch of a button. 
 
Happi recently conducted a Q&A with Perfect Corp. Founder Alice Chang regarding the alignment and what’s next for her company. 
 
 
Happi: Is this the first time you've teamed with a specific brand? If so, what attracted you to Bobbi Brown? If not, what are some other brands you've worked with and why?

Chang: Perfect Corp develops and provides digital-first solutions to enhance the beauty shopping experience for beauty brands, retailers and consumers alike. With over 320 global brand partners around the globe and 900 million app downloads, Perfect Corp is providing game-changing beauty tech solutions for the industry. We have been working with Bobbi Brown for many years and this new virtual beauty advisor for web service which incorporates AI, AR and experiential video technology is an extension of our partnership. As beauty technology continues to advance, we look forward to offering first-of-its-kind experiences to our brand partners to bring to market.  

Bobbi Brown’s new Virtual Beauty Advisor for Web personalized service give users instant access to expert beauty advice from anywhere. Users can instantly connect 1 on 1 with a beauty expert via live video chat and experience a real-time custom beauty consultation trying on the best products and looks through guided augmented reality (AR) makeup trials on Bobbi Brown’s website. We are thrilled to debut this innovative Beauty Advisor web service with Bobbi Brown to elevate and enhance the customer beauty journey.

Happi: Before establishing a partnership, what do you look for in a particular brand?

Chang: We love to work with trailblazing beauty brands who are looking to solve consumer and retail pain points to provide unique, highly engaging digital experiences for their customers that completely reimagine the shopping experience. The pandemic has drastically accelerated the speed in which brands and retailers are transitioning to these digital, direct-to-consumer tech-based virtual solutions, and we’re thrilled to work with partners who recognize this as a necessary focal point for the future of retail.


Happi: How has Perfect Corp. grown during the pandemic? To what do you attribute the gains?

Chang: There is no secret that the lockdowns and quarantines have created a huge impact to the beauty retail business. Consumers are spending more time online and shopping more online than ever before. The pandemic created urgency for brands and retailers to quickly pivot and reimagine how they connect with their consumers. However even pre-pandemic, shoppers were beginning to turn to Perfect Corp. to virtual try-on technology as a safe, fun and convenient way to discover and shop for products and make more confident purchase decisions. With the accelerated growth of ecommerce as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen a rise in brand partnerships looking toward Perfect Corp. to leverage AI and AR technology solutions across all their consumer touchpoints. Brands have been challenged to rethink their consumer experience through unique beauty tech solutions that mimic in-store beauty experiences for customers at home by providing virtual try-before-you-buy experiences. There’s also been rising demand for “shoppertainment,” which combines shopping and entertainment to provide a more personalized and interactive customer experience.


Happi: What will happen to virtual try-on as stores open up?

Chang: Brands and retailers will be challenged to find unique ways to revamp traditional brick-and-mortar with a growing demand for contactless/touchless solutions. Now, as the world is reopening and consumers are cautiously returning to life outside the home, Perfect Corp. is helping brands deliver on safe, convenient, and hyper-engaged digital-first experience across all consumer touchpoints. The return to in-store will make it more important than ever for brands to adopt a 360° omnichannel strategy and incorporate interactive, AI- and AR-powered experiences in store. Perfect Corp. is meeting these evolving consumer demands by providing in store voice- and gesture-controlled virtual try-on solutions and leveraging QR codes that drive beauty tech at the point of purchase.


Happi: What do consumers like about virtual try-on?

Chang: Virtual try-on is fun, safe and convenient. The pandemic has led many of us to be more health conscious than ever before and this technology allows consumers to virtually try on their favorite products eliminating the prior consumer pain points that came with messy community product testers. Additionally, customers have grown increasingly more confident in relying on virtual try-on technology to help them make more confident purchase decisions. This consumer confidence is further driven by capabilities like 1:1 beauty consultations with makeup professions for on-demand beauty advice that plays to a for hyper-personalized digital experience.


Happi: What do brand owners like about the technology?

Chang: Beauty tech has quickly evolved from a nice-to-have strategy to a must-have strategy, in order to deliver on the safe, convenient, and personalized experiential shopping that consumers have come to expect from online and in-store shopping.

Virtual try-on data from brands/retailers confirms increased conversion rates, longer time-on-site, boost in digital engagement, increase in add-to-carts and decrease in returns further proving the impact of virtual try-on capabilities throughout the shopper journey.

Perfect Corp.’s AI and AR solutions allow consumers to connect with brands in a whole new way. The hyper-engaged virtual experiences bridge the physical divide, offering an interactive, personalized consumer shopping journey that resonates and converts. In addition to virtual try-on, the advanced technology also enables brands to virtually connect with their customers 1:1, mimicking the physical in-store consultation experience while enhancing e-commerce tools and capabilities. Through our growing partnership with Bobbi Brown, our virtual try-on technology allows consumers to receive customized, instant product recommendations from seasoned Bobbi Brown makeup artists with and AR-powered virtual try on consultation solution allowing consumers to conveniently connect with the brand’s experts for product recommendation advice in real time.


Happi: What other areas of AI/AR show promise in the beauty space?

Chang: AI unlocks a whole new realm of possibilities in the beauty tech realm, making personalized, tailored consumer shopping experiences possible. This advanced technology will help match consumers with the best products and shades to fit their needs and preferences, expanding far beyond beauty into categories like eyewear, jewelry, accessories and more.

Additionally, this opens up more creative ways for brands to integrate experiential shopping across their consumer journey, including interactive live casting where brands can broadcast virtual makeup tutorials and engage with consumers in real-time. By integrating this technology into live streaming, consumers can ask questions, interact with brands and get immediate responses and feedback on products, further boosting customer engagement. Brands can also utilize these live streaming events as opportunities to link to products directly within the streaming video, driving product sales as well.