Perfect Corp., the company behind YouCam, has been taking a deep dive into the world of AI and AR technology by hosting a series of online presentations in which industry leaders discuss how digital tools have impacted their operations. In its most recent Global Beauty Tech Master Series event on Aug. 26 —“Beauty 3.0 – A Deep Dive into Personalized Recommendations”— Sowmya Gottipati, VP-technology for the Estée Lauder brand, explained to Perfect Corp. SVP and GM Wayne Liu how her company is getting personal.

Many beauty brands already offer some level of digital experience—think virtual try-ons and skin advisement services. 

More than 270 brands currently use Perfect Corp.’s SaaS products that include its latest iteration, YouCamfor Web, which provides an affordable self-service solution for indie small and medium businesses.

According to Liu, AR and AI are so popular because they work. “But the next challenge is personalized recommendation,” he said.

Liu said  “Beauty 3.0” marks a shift in the evolution of digital beauty away from traditional one-size-fits-all reactive experiences to highly personalized, proactive experiences.

During the presentation, Liu reviewed the major advancements made in the AR/AI space in terms of enhanced color matching and skin care assessment capabilities.

Estée Lauder is a Perfect Corp. customer; it has been using YouCam in stores and online for several years, according to Gottipati. 

For example, Estée Lauder’s iMatch virtual shade expert finds one’s perfect foundation. The app shows a perfect match, but since the customer may like a different shade, it allows her to choose her own “perfect” look based on what she deems most flattering, according to Gottipati.

“This ability to go beyond perfect to preferred match is the personalization. It increases the conversions and delights the consumer,” she explained.

Gottipati said Lauder, with its department store heritage, prides itself on being able to provide a high-touch consumer experience

When the pandemic hit and beauty counters closed, many prestige brands were unable to offer those personalized services in store—but those that had been upping their digital operations were in a better place to engage with customers. 

“Before COVID-19, we were ahead of the game,” said Gottipati.  “After, it was easy for us to switch over to tech, to engage online or on a social platform,” she said.

Further, Gottipati said that tools from Perfect Corp. enabled the company to keep up with its corporate needs, too, such as virtually training beauty advisors around the world.

Gottipati offered some advice for brands that may not have the deep pockets of a Lauder to be on the cutting edge of technology.

“Be on look at out for emerging products/startups that are really hungry and want to work with you. Figure out a way to partner with them so your investment is minimal….and do proof of concept and pilot. If it doesn’t work out, you have only lost a little bit of money, but if it proves out, you have a huge edge to roll it out, and faster time to market and with a much more smaller investment up front,” she said.

Upcoming events in Perfect Corp.’s free Global Beauty Tech Master Series, include:

• Sept 16: Beauty Tech 360: Omni-Channel and Cloud Solutions, with Deborah Leff, former industry CTO, data science and AI at IBM

• Oct. 7: Going Phygital:  Contactless & Virtual Solutions for Retail, with Lisa Sequino (global general manager and SVP of NA brand portfolio, The Estee lauder Companies

• Oct. 28: A Look at GenZ Virtual Beauty Community.

More info: https://www.perfectcorp.com/business/beauty-tech-forum-master-class