Small Business Beauty Tech Accelerator Program supports indie beauty brands’ digital needs

24-Jul-2023 - Last updated on 24-Jul-2023 at 17:16 GMT

As beauty brands continue to embrace new digital technologies to better serve consumers, access to tools like Perfect Corp.’s AI/AR try-on tech help modernize the consumer experience. © Perfect Corp.

To provide small and medium indie beauty brands with the digital support needed to better connect consumers with best match products, Perfect Corp.’s new beauty accelerator program makes its digital tools accessible for free use.

In May of this year, software as a service (Saas) AI and AR beauty platform Perfect Corp. announced the launch of its latest program to support small businesses in navigating and supporting their digital and technological industry needs. Called the Small Business Beauty Tech Accelerator Program, this opportunity offers qualifying female or minority-owned beauty brands with up to six months of free access to the Perfect Corp.’s virtual try-on technology for consumer use.

Since 2015, Perfect Corp. has supported over 500 brands in their digital beauty software needs. The program, which is currently accepting applications through September 30, 2023, is an opportunity for brands to leverage the capabilities of Perfect Corp.’s AI and AR advancements in the beauty space without making a significant financial investment in operational costs.

To learn more about the Small Business Beauty Tech Accelerator Program, including the program’s mission, benefits for successful applicants, and some of the challenges that program participation helps to address, we spoke with Alice Chang, CEO and Founder of Perfect Corp. for her insights.

Program mission and benefits

As a company in the digital beauty space, Perfect Corp.’s mission is to “solve consumer pain points through the power of digital innovation and technology and democratize access to the latest technology innovations, allowing brands of all sizes and budgets to leverage these powerful tools to better engage consumers,” said Chang.

When developing the Small Business Beauty Tech Accelerator Program, Perfect Corp. focused on incorporating the principles of this mission into the program’s framework to “ensure that all beauty brands, including small and indie businesses with limited budgets, could access our AR-powered virtual try on solutions for color cosmetics,” she shared.

Over the past several years, Perfect Corp.’s virtual try-on AI/AR technology has helped “brands to increase sales and digital engagement while boosting brand loyalty and customer purchasing confidence,” and further, supports beauty consumers in finding their best-fit product match. Subsequently, the Small Business Beauty Tech Accelerator Program “helps make this essential technology available to brands and beauty entrepreneurs of all sizes,” Chang added.

All brand applicants that qualify for enrollment and are accepted to participate in the program receive “free access to Perfect Corp.’s Premium Virtual Makeup VTO solution until December 31st, 2023,” said Chang.

Software access includes “offers VTO capabilities for 7 color cosmetic categories including foundation, mascara, lip color, blush, eyelashes, eyeliner, and eyeshadow,” she explained, affording participating brands the opportunity to “seamlessly transform their makeup products into digital SKUs using Perfect Corp.’s easy-to-use console, providing their customer base with an interactive and fun way to test products online before purchasing.”

Qualifications for program application

The program is best suited for applicants from “small, medium and indie beauty brands” invested “in enhancing their customer experience with innovative technology,” shared Chang. Therefore, to support these communities, Perfect Corp.’s program is designed to “elevate and empower women and minority-owned brands with access to this technology,” she added.

Eligible applicants must meet specific criteria, which includes brands having fifty or less employees, earning $10 million or less in annual revenue, maintaining a D2C channel, and selling at least one type of color cosmetic product such as foundation, mascara, blush, lip color, eyelashes, eyeliner, or eyeshadow. Additionally, the brand must be woman or minority-owned to be considered.

Solving challenges for small brand success

Beauty brands, and particularly indie brands of this size, are facing challenges like “the need to provide consumers with personalized experiences and beauty advice,” said Chang. Further, today’s beauty consumers desire “to receive product recommendations customized to their unique needs, and want to access brand experiences that are entertaining,” she added.

To address these needs, the Small Business Beauty Tech Accelerator Program offers brand applicants the opportunity to utilize a digital tool that provides “personalized advice to each customer in an interactive setting,” Change shared. By utilizing virtual try-on technology, brands can subsequently offer consumers the ability to “sample various beauty products in seconds and clearly visualize how makeup shades will appear when worn, which, in turn helps to increase purchasing confidence as customers understand which products are right for their unique needs.”

Further, “it has been proven that the more products consumers are able to sample, the more shades they will discover, and the more products they will purchase,” Chang explained. As “the virtual try-on experience is immersive and fun, this virtual try-on experience can greatly enhance the consumer journey, while helping small beauty brands acquire new customers and build brand loyalty.”

Ultimately, “applying to Perfect Corp.’s Small Business Beauty Tech Accelerator program will help small, medium and indie-sized beauty brands transform their customer experience and take their business to new heights,” Chang concluded. To learn more about the program and submit an application, visit the Perfect Corp. website.