Estée Lauder brings augmented reality try-on to flagship brand’s e-commerce offerings
NEW YORK — Estée Lauder is making it easier for its shoppers to try on products for its flagship brand. The company has partnered with Toronto-based ModiFace, which provides augmented reality technology for the beauty industry, to offer augmented reality-based product try-on for Estée Lauder’s mobile and web e-commerce platforms.
The try-on offering uses ModiFace’s Light Field Rendering technology to accommodate different lighting, texture and shine in the photo of video that consumers are using to try on Estée Lauder products.
“We are delighted by our partnership with ModiFace which has resulted in an incredibly realistic and accurate representation of our products through Augmented Reality technology,” Estée Lauder global brand president Stephane de La Faverie said. “We are especially delighted that this capability is provided to our consumers across all platforms, including mobile, web, and tablet, directly on the product page where it can make the biggest impact.”
This isn’t Estée Lauder’s first foray into augmented reality try-on offerings. The brand in the United Kingdom recently rolled out a partnership with YouCam Makeup app maker Perfect for an in-store experience that incorporated the ability to try on 30 different shades of Estée Lauder lipstick. With the ModiFace partnership, the company is bringing augmented reality to more consumers and looking beyond creating an experience just in the physical store.
Besides offering another opportunity to capture and engage millennial consumers, the augmented reality efforts, according to ModiFace founder and CEO Parham Aarabi, also have an impact on sales.
“In general, we have seen that conversions increase by 84% when AR is added directly in the path to purchase,” Parham told Drug Store News. “For Estée Lauder we do not yet have data to share, but Estee Lauder's sister brand SmashBox, who had launched ModiFace AR technology earlier this year, did report data that was incredibly positive.”
The ModiFace try-on technology that Estée Lauder is bringing to its e-commerce incorporates ModiFace’s abilities to create virtual surfaces that are able to best model the finish and textures of Estée Lauder cosmetics.
“Our latest web AR technology combines the latest advances in AI, facial tracking, and computer graphics to result in a realistic, widely usable, and practical application that has been highly optimized for improving the online beauty shopping experience,” Aarabi said. “We are extremely excited to bring this unique technology to market with Estée Lauder, one of the world’s most renowned beauty brands."