Solutions & Innovations (July-August 2024)
For Global Recycling Day in March, Barilla partnered with Japanese organizing consultant and author Marie Kondo to show how consumers can reuse the company's pasta boxes to pack items for shipping. Built around the hashtag "#BarillaSecondhandBox," the campaign showed how to use Kondo's folding techniques and packing tips to repurpose various household items.
In June, Instacart announced it will be extending its first-party retail media data to YouTube. The new capability builds on Instacart's "Google Shopping Ads" collaboration. It will be sharing its “AI-powered” merchandising (nutritional preferences, past purchases and real-time trend data) across Google's properties. YouTube viewers can click directly from certain ads to an Instacart product page where they can arrange for same-day delivery. Clorox and Publicis Media are initial partners and will receive closed-loop measurement. Nielsen's Gauge says YouTube viewers watched 30 billion hours of shopping-related content in 2023.
L’Oreal Paris' "Beauty Genius" uses a conversational tool powered by generative AI, computer vision, color science and augmented reality services. The assistant is said to employ "a proprietary chain of reasoning" as well as semantic filters and intent detection that can produce personalized diagnostics of both skin and skin tone, and offer recommendations on more than 750 skincare, makeup and hair-color products. The tool’s virtual try-on technology was tested by make-up artists in 50 countries on more than 10,000 products. Its algorithm has been trained on more than 150,000 dermatologist-annotated images.
Sony is operating an AI-driven vision-detection solution at 500 7-Eleven locations and other retailers in Japan on digital signage systems. Sony's "Edge AI" technology is said to use "on-sensor AI processing" that automatically detects when a shopper enters a digital-signage detection area, counts how many see it and measures for how long they paused. The acquired metadata is sent to a back-end system where it's combined with content-streaming information and purchasing data to gauge advertising effectiveness. The system’s imagery cannot ID individuals so to preserves privacy.
In June, an iOS platform and app named Auggie was launched for parents hoping to share recommendations and shop vetted products. The app accesses a community of parents who share advice and recommendations, with most questions, the developers claim, answered in 30 seconds or less. The developers say it solves an info-gathering challenge for time-pressed parents who'd otherwise be juggling text threads, social groups and Google docs. An "Auggie Marketplace" centralizes the products and service providers (with links) that community members have already tested alongside “honest” reviews.
Boston-based True Fit, an online size-and-fit-personalization platform, has launched "Fit Hub," a generative-AI app that organizes personal size recommendations, product reviews, returns data, size charts and product descriptions on retailers’ sites. The goal is to avoid confusing shoppers by allowing conflicting sizing advice to appear on different product detail pages. True Fit uses a "Fashion Genome" that collects data from 82 million shoppers and 29,000 brands. A "Fit Needs" enhancement lets shoppers identify key areas of garments ("more room in the thigh" or "tops with a longer torso") to fit to specific body proportions.
Shopsense AI is launching a retail-media platform said to make content on broadcast TV and live-streaming networks shoppable inside their apps and e-commerce sites. Shopsense AI also plans to roll out a new feature, “Shopsense Lens,” to enable viewers to snap an image of a product in a show they’re viewing and instantly purchase it through the publisher’s app. Paramount Global is Shopsense AI's inaugural partner, and the technology is being used on CBS Sports’ new Golazo Network and on the Tastemade streaming network's “Kitchen Glow Up” series.
After raising $50 million, Daydream, a shopping-search platform, will be beta launching this fall. Backers say it will use generative AI, machine learning and computer vision to enable shoppers to use conversational language and image recognition to get personalized shopping results and highly specific recommendations. Daydream will focus initially on the fashion vertical, having onboarded 2,000 brands including Net-A-Porter, Altuzarra and Jimmy Choo. Those interested can join a waitlist at Daydream.ing.
In May, Williams Sonoma launched a new mobile iOS shopping app that lets customers shop curated collections of products, create and manage registries, and access thousands of recipes. The new mobile app also lets shoppers connect with design experts virtually or set up one-on-one appointments, access info from Williams Sonoma's "Test Kitchen," and connect to local stores for notifications about in-stock items.
The New York Times (NYT) and Instacart have launched a shoppable-recipes integration. Readers of the “NYT Cooking” section can now purchase the ingredients of its recipes through the Instacart app and website. Readers will also receive special offers and discounts through Instacart’s premium membership program, Instacart+, which boasts of benefits such as free delivery on eligible grocery and restaurant orders. This is the New York Times Cooking section’s first annual subscription collaboration at this scale.
June saw the launch of Rakuten+, a membership program for designer brands that connects them with the most active users of cash-back platform Rakuten. These ultra-engaged shoppers will earn at least 10% cash back on products from program-participating brands and retailers. Rakuten claims that its users have been responsible, in some cases, for up to 29% increases in shoppers at certain stores, and that their activity can be directly correlated with increases in average order value and repeat purchasing.
In August, Dallas-based Grocery Dealz is scheduled to launch a mobile app designed to compare grocery prices across local stores. Aimed especially at families that rely on government assistance with SNAP or WIC, the Grocery Dealz app is said to be able to conduct price comparisons across local grocery stores in real-time; automatically find, integrate and then apply available coupons; and can integrate with a user's preferred retailer's app.
In June, Costa Mesa, California-based Z Supply, a women's clothing brand, launched a "Text-a-Stylist" shopping service. The service connects customers with a live member of the Z Supply "styling team" for personalized shopping recommendations, gift-giving advice and fashion tips. After connecting via a text to (949) 564-9650, the customer gets recommendations in real time that complement the brand's social media and website videos. The service is available Monday-Friday during regular business hours.
The is summer, the Dallas-based LTK shopping app is unveiling “Shopper Alerts” across its product catalog of 8,000 retailers and more than 450 million products. The alerts are automatically and continuously updated across the platform and attach a badge to products that either offer a “price drop” or are “back in stock.”
In June, Nordstrom began rolling out a new digital marketplace on Nordstrom.com designed to expand its online assortment beyond traditional wholesale partnerships. Dubbed an "unowned inventory model," the new marketplace is said to expand the range of products and sizes offered by including greater size inclusivity, products designed for a broader set of occasions and an assortment aimed at younger customers.