Sephora Debuts Two New Bot-Powered Beauty Tools For Messenger

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --  SEPHORA, the leader in global prestige beauty retail announces the launch of two new bot-powered beauty tools available now exclusively on Messenger. As one of the first beauty retailers to introduce a bot earlier this year, Sephora continues to pioneer fast, easy and fun mobile-first technologies that integrate beauty into their clients' daily routine. Sephora Reservation Assistant is an appointment booking bot to reserve a makeover at Sephora stores across the United States. Color Match for Sephora Virtual Artist is a shade matching addition to the Sephora Virtual Artist bot that scans any photo and instantly provides the closest lipstick color match from Sephora's entire assortment.

Experience the interactive Multimedia News Release here: http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7926152-sephora-messenger-beauty-tools

"Our two new bots for Messenger offer enhanced ways for our clients to engage with Sephora by streamlining how they access relevant service and product information on their mobile devices," said Mary Beth Laughton, SVP of Digital for Sephora. "We're excited to leverage the Messenger platform to create quick and natural conversational interactions that are client-led. This allows us to provide richer, more varied conversations that ensure clients get exactly what they want out of the experience." 

SEPHORA RESERVATION ASSISTANT
Secure your makeover at the Sephora Beauty Studio with the new Sephora Reservation Assistant bot—available by chatting with Sephora on Messenger. The easy, conversational interface allows clients to tell the bot which store location and service they want and then instantly receive the closest dates and times. The bot uses NLP (natural language processing) to understand what the client types in free-from text, like the name of a city or a combination of date and time. The client can also book the appointment completely in Messenger, and instantly receive a confirmation email.  Sephora partnered with Assi.st, a leading automated messaging platform, on this innovative booking experience.

SEPHORA COLOR MATCH FOR SEPHORA VIRTUAL ARTIST ON MESSENGER          
Sephora has partnered with ModiFace, the leading creator of augmented reality technology for the beauty industry, to develop this exclusive new feature for the Sephora Virtual Artist bot that can detect and accurately estimate the shade in any photo and match it with lipstick products available at Sephora. The state-of-the-art technology, uses advanced Artificial Intelligence to understand the contents of images, whether it's an object, another beauty product or the face of a favorite celebrity, and automatically provide instant, relevant results through a simple interaction on Sephora Virtual Artist for Messenger.

It doesn't matter what the photo contains; the technology identifies the most prominent colors in the photo and allows the user to select one of the colors to view. From there, a list of the top matching lipsticks available from Sephora is quickly returned to the user. Matches can be virtually tried on and then purchased from Sephora.com

ABOUT SEPHORA
Sephora is a leader in global beauty retail, teaching and inspiring clients to play in a world of beauty. Sephora has earned its reputation with its expertise, innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit, and has been changing the face of prestige cosmetics since its debut in Paris in the early 1970's. A year after its acquisition by luxury group LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton in 1997, Sephora expanded its empire to North America with a revolutionary store model that broke down the department store counter. Now with more than 430 stores in the Americas—including US, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil—plus nearly 600 inside JCPenney, Sephora has become a leading international beauty destination with over 2,300 locations in 33 countries, plus an award-winning website and an intuitive mobile app. Clients have the opportunity to play with 14,000 products from 200 carefully curated brands, featuring indie darlings, emerging favorites, trusted classics, and Sephora's private label, SEPHORA COLLECTION. In store, the client receives personalized recommendations from the IQ system, and at the Beauty Studio she explores her look with makeovers, complimentary classes, hands-on events, and one-on-one consultations. Online she interacts with an inclusive beauty community on the award-winning Beauty Board, and interactive Beauty Talk. And as one of Sephora's 17 million Beauty Insiders, she feeds her beauty addiction with unique rewards and experiences. Sephora offers endless ways to explore beauty. For the latest, visit sephora.com

SOURCE Sephora