Feature and Appearance Updates: Can Augmented Reality Increase Sales of Beauty Products?

You may already be used to shopping online. However, many believe that no matter how smooth the experience in e-commerce is, some things — like cosmetics — need to be seen in person, in-store, in the traditional way.

Leather foundation should match the skin tone. Finding the right shade of red in lipstick is also not an easy job. However, various digital genuine skincare and makeup brands are fighting to sell makeup online by introducing new virtual tools.

Dian Permatasari, an administrative staff of a travel company based in Jakarta, likes to call herself a "beauty enthusiast". So far she has been buying new beauty products online or through catalogs, of course it's not always smooth sailing.

"Sometimes, it's hard for me to imagine whether the lipstick colors I see online match me or not," she says. Catalog-printed shades are also often different from actual colors, he says.

Since last year, she has been using the new virtual makeup test feature introduced by L'Oréal Group on the e-commerce platform Shopee Sea, which allows her to check whether a new lip cream color, or skin foundation, will suit her face, all thanks to augmented reality. "I hope more brands can provide this feature because it minimizes the risk of buying the wrong color," he said. However, the app is far from perfect, as colors sometimes look “too fake” on the screen, according to Dian.

Increasing adoption of virtual beauty apps

Many e-commerce platforms started providing virtual makeup trial features since 2018 in Indonesia, although user adoption has increased since the periodic COVID-19 restrictions, as people are forced to stay at home.

The feature mentioned by Dian, named Shopee Beauty Cam, was introduced by L'Oréal Group at Shopee for its corporate brands L'Oréal, Maybelline, and Nyx. The French multinational entered the AR beauty scene with the acquisition of Canadian beauty technology company ModiFace in 2018, as part of L'Oréal's digital acceleration strategy to increase online sales.

To develop a virtual makeup test function, ModiFace trained its software manually using 22.000 facial images to cover various skin tones, according to the company's website. ModiFace also maintains a similar app for visualizing different hair colors, also marketed by L'Oréal, called Hair Color.

Another similar app, called AR Makeup Try-On, was launched in October 2020 by JD.id, an e-commerce joint venture from Gojek and Chinese giant JD.com. Local makeup companies such as Wardah, Emina, and Somehinc, which sell their products exclusively on JD.id, have used this function since their debut.

In addition, Indonesian cosmetic brand Wardah teamed up with Taipei-based beauty technology company Perfect Corp to develop a trial feature on the company's website, as product sales through e-commerce channels "contribute significantly" to the company's revenue in 2020, according to one of Wardah's spokespersons.

Google is also partnering with ModiFace and Perfect Corp to launch a virtual makeup feature on Google Shopping in December 2020. Its function is to allow users to visualize lipstick and eyeshadow colors from brands such as L'Oréal, MAC Cosmetics, Black Opal, and Charlotte Tilbury, among others. other.

Here's how virtual makeup tools work: Users access the product they want from an e-commerce platform or brand's website, and after clicking the "try it now" button, they can see a live augmented reality representation of what the product will look like on the skin thanks to the camera. smartphones or laptops. Users can choose different color shades, as well as other beauty effects, and then save their photos with virtual makeup.

"It's like using Instagram filters, but it can also be applied in real life because the products can be purchased directly," said Ayu Mutiara Ningsih, a Shopee user, to KrASIA.

Maybelline from L'Oréal Group allows consumers to try makeup products virtually. Screenshot from Maybelline website.

Serving the ever-increasing demand

More and more platforms are adopting AR features as an additional way to lure consumers into buying beauty products online, Daniel Surya, co-founder and chairman of Indonesian information technology company Augmented Reality & Co, told KrASIA.

AR cosmetic applications are also the result of changing consumer behavior, where e-commerce is slowly becoming the main channel for buying beauty products, added Surya.

As more and more people consider buying cosmetics online, the ability to visualize themselves with a new look may just amaze them. “Most brands want to add AR features on their platforms because they want to drive more sales,” said Surya.

Indonesia's e-commerce sector is expected to reach USD 101 billion by 2025, with groceries, household appliances and personal care products as the three main driving factors, according to report by research firm RedSeer.

However, virtual makeup applications need to overcome some technical limitations in order to be widely adopted by users. "Sometimes the feature crashes, and I can't click the try button," said Dian, referring to Shopee's BeautyCam.

"I hope they can improve the filter and image quality, because I think the color contrast is too high and the lipstick shadows don't look natural," she added.

Factors such as room brightness and the gadget's camera also affect the quality of AR visualization. “When my room is too dark, the filter fails to blend in with my face and looks too cartoonish,” said an online shopper Ningsih.

Surya emphasized that the country's low internet speed is a problem for the major adoption of AR technology, as well as the quality of the gadgets. “AR requires devices with high-quality cameras and processors, which is not a problem for high-end smartphone users. But Indonesians prefer low-end smartphones which are sometimes not compatible [for AR]. ”

Google's new virtual cosmetic trial feature for Google Shopping was developed in partnership with ModiFace and Perfect Corp. Source courtesy of Google.

The impact of AR makeup applications on sales is also yet to be seen. Survey An internal from Perfect Corp found that users were 1,6 times more likely to buy beauty products after using the trial feature compared to those who didn't. However, the survey was conducted directly by Perfect Corp, a company that sees virtual experiment technology as its main line of business. The company is best known to consumers for its beauty app, YouCam Makeup, which provides users with virtual makeup samples from global brands such as L'Oréal and Estée Lauder.

Users interviewed by KrASIA said that the AR trial feature had less of an impact on their purchase decision, as they used it more simply to play with different possible products, shades and colors. However, it is possible that these features, inadvertently, can spur the desire to buy certain products.

“I think the most important thing is how brands use AR to deliver engaging and engaging content to consumers. AR is just a tool,” he said. “Like musicians and guitars. Even though the guitar is expensive, but musicians can't play it well, no one will listen to it and the guitar won't work.”

Expand adoption using the latest technology

The adoption of AR in the Indonesian beauty market is still in its early stages, according to Surya, but the market will continue to grow in the future. As countries look to adopt 5G broadband by 2024, the use of AR features will become more common.

“This will not be limited to experiments. We can see features such as skin analysis or prediction, especially with the support of AR equipment, such as glasses," said Surya. “Users can apply virtual makeup not only on their own faces but also on other people's faces. It's like seeing your friend's appearance in a certain style of makeup, through glasses."

This technology can also be widely used in traditional shops. Companies like Meitu and ModiFace have installed smart mirror devices in offline stores in countries such as the United States, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Singapore. Similar to smartphone applications, the device allows customers to virtually wear the desired product, while also recommending certain styles according to the user's skin tone or face shape.

However, brands and platforms will take a long time to support AR development, analysts explain. “To build your own database with products, skin tones, facial features and more, you have to spend tens of millions of dollars. High-performance AR tools have a high cost,” explained Surya.

-This article was first released by KrASIA. Re-released in Indonesian as part of the collaboration with DailySocial