The beauty industry is constantly evolving. And the last few years have seen tremendous strides in technology's influence on the industry—from incredible interactive in-store displays to smartphone augmented reality apps. However, by far the most significant user adoption and largest opportunity for beauty brands is with voice-based shopping.
Customers using voice assistants to research products and shop have skyrocketed. Researchers believe that voice shopping will rise to $40B in the U.S. alone by 2022.
Some valuable statistics for context include:
Beauty brands use voice assistants to bring beauty advice and tutorials right into bathrooms or home vanity areas—the very spaces where their customers put on makeup in the morning or apply their skincare routine in the evening.
Beauty product lovers have been eating up makeup and hair tutorials and makeover content for years. Department stores and beauty specialty retailers such as Sephora and Ulta have had in-store makeover stations for decades. And shoppers are increasingly turning to YouTube tutorials and online influencers for beauty tips—a fact experts attribute to the growth of the now $532B industry overall.
In 2018, Google Assistant and Sephora's YouTube beauty tutorial content came together in a Google Home Hub partnership. Kristy Frivold, Sephora’s Senior Director of their Innovation Lab, said at the time:
“We aren’t doing it just for tech or because it’s cool or new. We know our (customers) would love to have a beauty advisor in their home — like the ones they come to our stores for.”
Exciting Voice Assistant Features
There are several ways beauty brands can effectively use voice assistants. The technology allows your customers to experience:
- Personalized makeup and skincare techniques and hairstyling remedies and ideas
- Diagnostic quizzes that conclude with specific personalized product suggestions
- Instant answers to product and beauty regiment questions
- Connecting readily to a particular product straight from an ad played on a smart speaker
- Conveniently reserving in-store or live virtual beauty consultations
- Quick and easy purchase re-orders
A bonus for brands using such features is that they can attract new business. Global beauty company Coty, learned this after launching their voice assistant on Amazon's Echo Show (a voice assistant featuring a screen). Elodie Levy, Coty's Senior Director of Digital Innovation, says:
“Interestingly, 80% of those that have interacted with (our voice assistant) are new customers, which means it also facilitates the discovery of our company."
Who is using voice assistants?
So what brands are using voice technology? Some examples include:
- Estée Lauder has been on Google's Home Hub since 2017 and introduced Liv, their virtual beauty advisor tool, in 2019.
- Beauty heavyweight Coty released their Clairol Color Expert with Google in 2018, giving customers step-by-step instructions on the hair dying process and aftercare.
- In 2019, DKNY started targeting millennials and Gen-Z shoppers with a voice-activated sampling service, allowing customers to use voice to request product samples.
- Shiseido, a Japanese multinational cosmetic and personal care company, launched its voice assistant in 2017, which offers over 2,000 unique combinations of curated looks and visual how-tos.
