After metaverse week, where does beauty tech head next?

This article is part of our Vogue Business Membership package. To enjoy unlimited access to Member-only reporting and insights, our NFT Tracker and TikTok Trend Tracker, weekly Technology and Sustainability Edits and exclusive event invitations, sign up for Membership here. The inaugural Metaverse Beauty Week (MBW) on 12-17 June featured brands such as Neutrogena, Lush and Lottie London, but reviews were mixed, and attendance sparse. Many brands are still in an exploratory phase of understanding the full potential of AI, AR, Web3 and metaverse experiences. The beauty sector’s use of the metaverse has evolved from an initial interest in pure visibility and marketing to exploration of its potential sales value to, now, an early-stage recognition of how it can operate as a sustained channel through which brands might engage consumers and encourage participation. All this takes time to process and implement. “Toying with experiences and running effective executions are two different things,” says Cat Turner, co-founder of creative agency Cult, which organised Metaverse Beauty Week. “The beauty industry has been exploring and playing with numerous Web3 [and metaverse] executions: from NFT collections, digital avatars and influencers to more recently gaming and play. Now it’s about really maturing into a major player in shaping how the digital landscape can look for beauty.” Current initiatives are willing to draw on multiple technologies. Brands such as Charlotte Tilbury use AI to shade match and AR to overlay virtual product on faces. Elizabeth Arden has used generative AI to build a new virtual store. AR and Web3 were both prominent at MBW across the platforms of Decentraland, Roblox and Spatial. The tech is becoming smarter. Snap’s AR technology, in the works for over a decade, is a very different tool these days, says head of fashion and beauty Rajni Jacques. “Tech moves fast,” she says. “Today, products look more realistic than they did a year ago, especially due to the advancement of facial tracking technology.” Beauty brands such as Topicals and Loops are now months into using Web3 loyalty programme Try Your Best (TYB). Adventurous Web3-native beauty brands such as Kiki, launched in May, are ready to offer directly to consumers the chance to participate in brand building and product development. But consumer buy-in isn’t a given, and the early novelty of one-off multi-platform metaverse experiences appears to be wearing off. According to metaverse insights platform Geeiq, MBW drew 3,671 unique visitors on Decentraland across the six days, and an average of 1,940 daily visitors on Roblox. (Geeiq did not track attendance on Spatial.) By comparison, Nars’s Sweet Rush metaverse space in Roblox, which launched in May, has had nearly 6 million total visits to date, per Geeiq. “Logistically, it’s still difficult to create a cohesive experience for one event across multiple virtual platforms, especially when they each attract very different audiences,” Geeiq senior account director Albane Prioux says. Scratching the surface The MBW founders say it’s still early days. “The ‘touch and feel’ of beauty remains the constant question with effective digital experiences: what does the metaverse smell like? How do you show texture on a virtual lip?” Turner asks. “Through integrating multiple experiences, we really tried to address this as much as possible. The interoperability of MBW helped this feel like a much less siloed, much more fluid experience — but there is so much more to come with how these experiences can better suit consumer expectations.” Brands agree that they’re only beginning to reap the benefits of the latest tech. “There is an enormous opportunity for beauty brands to leverage Web3, and we are scratching the surface of how brands will interact with their customers in the future,” says Natalie Browne Holmes, head of community and social impact at Topicals. They are keen to build alongside consumers. The three founders of Kiki started ideating over a year ago. Its launch this May is only the beginning, says co-founder and CEO Jana Bobosikova. “Part of our journey is [building] together and publicly.” Celebrity makeup artist Lisa Eldridge, who has experimented with using AI to create a makeup look, says there is some way to go. “Currently, this precise shade-matching technology just isn’t there. A trained eye and good daylight is essential for this.” But she’s upbeat: “This is makeup history in the making.” Consumer interest is encouraging — some 43 per cent of American shoppers say they would rather shade-match for foundation through AI online than test in-store, according to a report from Bolt, a startup offering one-click checkout technology. Engagement via personalisation Brands believe they can use technology to take engagement to the next level — introducing a new intensive offer of personalisation. Some 57 per cent of Gen Z are ready to pay as much as 11-20 per cent more for beauty purchases if they involve custom and curated online shopping journeys, according to Bolt. Its report also found that 62 per cent of shoppers — including 80 per cent of Gen Z — are more likely to buy a beauty product if they can use tech to land on their perfect formula. “Gen Z (and millennials) are very much into brands curating a personalised experience for them,” Snap’s Jacques says. “Why? Those generations came of age in a time where technology was being used to curate offerings for them.” Snap research suggests 69 per cent of people feel more confident about their online purchases after using personalised virtual experiences. It’s why virtual store creator Obsess launched Ava, a tool that enables brands to take ownership of their virtual stores and edit them with ease. This way, they are better equipped to respond to consumer preferences, gearing their online spaces towards longer-term, sustained engagement. The push to embed diversity continues. A substantial 58 per cent of shoppers say that diversity and inclusion are important when purchasing products from a beauty or skincare brand, according to Bolt. Urban Decay, which recently staged Eye Con, an activation on Roblox with Ulta Beauty, engages with Roblox in large part because of its popularity among women (over 50 per cent) and BIPOC (44 per cent), says Eva Erdmann, global president. “We know these users represent a huge part of current consumer behaviour and hold significant purchasing power. By establishing a presence on Roblox, we can build up Gen Z desirability for the brand in this influential market.” Education and trust Brands appreciate the potential impact of personalised spaces as direct channels through which to educate consumers and enhance trust. Clinique’s virtual realm, launched in February, seeks to inform consumers about both product and brand history in a way that is engaging for Gen Z consumers. The combination of education and entertainment is promising, says Urban Decay’s Erdmann. This can convert to sales opportunities by creating brand moments that “maximise intent”, she says. “Whether they buy online or offline, our virtual experiences enable them to discover Urban Decay products and make informed decisions at their convenience.” AI also holds potential to help brands to educate. “A less flashy, but still significant AI use case for beauty brands focuses on the [consumer] demand for more detailed information about products,” says Marcel Hollerbach, chief innovation officer and co-founder of retail tech company Productsup. “AI can help speed up data compilation from various suppliers, categorise information and enhance content.” With Web3, this can extend to service accreditation. In April, Dermalogica introduced its Medispa Professional Accreditation, a blockchain-based verification programme for professional skin therapists. The goal is to provide a secure means of verifying skin therapists’ qualifications, given the lack of standardised qualifications. The badge displays credentials attached to the token that can be linked to therapists’ websites and social media profiles. Decision-making power for consumers Besides building consumer trust, Web3 can enhance participation. Kiki wants to place power in the hands of consumers and bring them into the decision-making fold. “Beauty is a $450 billion category standing on the shoulders of creators and customer recommendations,” Bobosikova says. “Neither creators nor customers consistently participate in the value they create for Web2 platforms and beauty brands.” “Having a say in what products you want (for instance, through off-chain voting at Kiki.world) and being rewarded for using products not just at repurchase but when you actually use them — these are new ways to engage any customer and organically lead to product development and improvement that is truly customer-centric,” the CEO adds. Topicals made the switch via TYB, which it now uses to manage its ‘insiders’ programme. “Our goal was to enhance the insiders program and provide value to our community members while also rewarding our dedicated ambassadors, our super fans, who possess a deep understanding of our brand and who already engage in actions that we find valuable,” says Browne Holmes. It’s the way forward, Bobosikova argues. “Layering in customer ownership, product voting and customer data as customer-owned features of existing behaviour allow the beauty industry to build a more sustainable and aligned business model where each product comes to be through customer demand — and is co-owned by the people that use the product,” she says. “It just makes more sense.” To receive the Vogue Business newsletter, sign up here. Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at feedback@voguebusiness.com. More on this topic: How technology is transforming fashion and beauty No longer just marketing, beauty is building worlds in the metaverse to drive sales Beauty in the metaverse: Where it’s heading

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