For Lancôme that means an e-commerce solution where shoppers can now see hundreds of color cosmetics on models and in combinations they’ve personally selected.
Clickbait
The tool is now available to consumers via the Lancôme website.
The hope is that it will move e-commerce for cosmetics and personal care items from a business of refill purchases to one where consumers also discover, purchase, and find satisfaction with new colors, formulations, and seasonal offerings.
Interaction rather than big data
The Sight Commerce platform Infinite is a digital commerce interface contrived to show an infinite array, as it were, of a given brand’s products - every sku in every combination on a pre-set selection of models with various figures, bone structures, skin tones, etc.
“The reality is, relevancy is far more important than personalization," explains Nikki Baird, retail analyst and managing partner of retail systems research.
"Relevancy is about letting shoppers take control and drive the experience – with the retailer lending a helping hand. It’s not about the retailer choosing a recommendation based on some data they have collected about all of their consumers."
Baird’s remarks are quoted in the Sight Commerce white paper Picture Perfect, authored by the company’s ceo Vipanj Patel.
“Anything that creates interactivity and engagement – letting the consumer make the experience relevant for herself – is going to do far better than something that makes assumptions based on algorithms about what she may or may not want,” Baird asserts.
Partners in beauty
In addition to the partnership with Lancôme, Sight Commerce is working with other leading beauty brands, namely Revlon and Estée Lauder.
“For Lancôme, luxury means outstanding service and constant innovation to exceed our customers’ desires. It’s rare to find a partner who can deliver on that promise and actually have a significant impact on your business and sales,” states Alessio Rossi, VP, interactive and e-business marketing at Lancôme USA.
The Sight Commerce website promises quite the ROI: a 120% increase in the conversion rate.
Custom-made imagery
Visual media is a mainstay of adverting in the cosmetics business and more and more relevant in the digital space everyday, think emoji, Instagram and Pinterest. The Infinite software tool brings these realities together with a gamification of sorts for online shoppers.
Other recent industry efforts to inspire consumers with images that feel personal include digital ads built with consumers’ uploaded photos from Slate Cosmetics and their tech partner, Looking Glass. And, the visually engaging interactive training software QuizScore from multimedia plus is inspiring associates to educate and motivate consumers with refreshing brand-specific content.