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Company owners, marketing executives, and brand representatives within the fashion and beauty industry and beyond know that generative AI is powerful. But many are still unsure how to harness the power.
Generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) consists of digital algorithms used to make all kinds of creative content. From videos and images to text and simulations, this new online tool offers new opportunities for retailers to connect with their audiences in an entirely new way.
To leading experts in Gen AI, this new focus on AI technology is a significant advancement. Companies and retailers now can dramatically improve their efficiency. With generative AI, they can create infinite pieces of high-quality marketing content, streamline warehousing and logistics, and reach a larger consumer base with results that once may have been nearly impossible.
The impact on retailers is revolutionary. They can use generative AI to customize content for different platforms and audiences by training the algorithm with their guidelines and tone. Gen AI can promote messaging and improve campaigns by allowing marketers endless options to launch, test, and refine. This makes connecting with current and potential customers more effective than ever.
At the Global Beauty & Fashion AI Forum in 2024, Gen AI experts discussed how it's changing the future of retail tech — along with the way we live.
To watch the full panel discussion, click here: The Global Beauty Tech Master Series | PERFECT
AI in Shipping and Operations
Panelist Mike Ryan is the Chief Networking Officer for PIMS, a full-service marketing agency with a leading focus on the influencer space. He told the forum crowd that one of the best ways to leverage the power of generative AI is with inventory management optimization.
“This AI-driven optimization will give the warehouse the ability to properly inventory your materials,” he said. “If you use influencer marketing and want to send your product out to the world, you have to make sure you have your product.”
Gen AI can optimize shipping and operations by providing real-time, SKU-specific inventory while encouraging the use of every available square inch in the warehouse. This allows brands to shrink their inventory footprint, reducing storage and logistical costs.
This powerful tool can also help optimize operations, including determining when to place orders.
“With AI, you can engage things like weather, traffic, and world events to know when to send out your product to get the best bang for the buck,” he said. “We used to do that manually, and now AI is fed with data and gives a better benefit to our clients.
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Transforming Assets With Gen AI
Ariane Pol, the Global Head of Research for Creative Works at Google, also shared her perspective on generative AI at the forum. Her team uses AI to understand the patterns of effective creativity in digital advertisements. This information can then be used to transform and optimize outreach and performance on many digital platforms.
“We help advertisers make better ads,” she explained. “We have been deconstructing the ads to understand what truly works … People, humor, the message. We then correlate to performance to see what works and what doesn’t.”
Her team found four common pillars that drive performance:
- Attention
- Branding
- Connection
- Direction
Using this research and generative AI tools, brand representatives can then maximize the impact of their content. For example, they can convert video formats from horizontal to vertical and use AI-generated voiceovers to launch products in diverse markets that were otherwise too expensive.
She said these transformations help reach different customer segments efficiently and cost-effectively.
“Now is the time to do more with less, to use tech to supercharge your power,” she explained. “These are tools to help elevate your work while you focus on brand and marketing strategy.”
Gen AI in Fashion
Fashion Designer Bach Mai was another thought leader on the panel, and he uses the technology for his luxury ready-to-wear American fashion line. He said it’s important to remember that AI is a tool — like a paint brush or fabric — that creative professionals can use to enhance their ideas.
“AI is still an aggregate tool. You still need something, a seed, the beginning of creation,” he said. “I love what the Gen AI artists are doing, now that the models are trained and personalized to their own style and hand, as it were.”
He said that Gen AI can also help shoppers visualize the styles and bring looks to life, much like PerfectCorp.’s AI fashion technology for beauty and fashion brands. One of his clients recently needed a makeover, but would have preferred to use AI to try on the clothes and accessories. With generative AI, he could.
“I’ve been a creative person my whole life, and it’s easy to imagine something. That’s not the case for a lot of people,” he said. “(Gen AI) will really help enrich this customization space, which we’re already seeing as part of a huge growing part of the luxury fashion sector.”
He’s also enjoyed watching Gen AI create visually impactful campaigns for fashion brands quickly and affordably. It’s the best way to satisfy seemingly insatiable “hunger for content," he said. The technology can take what has already been created and change it for a "mountain" of fresh ideas, he added.
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The Future of Gen AI in Retail and Fashion
As the experts shared at the Global Beauty & Fashion AI Forum in 2024, it’s hard to overstate the transformative potential of generative AI for brands and retailers. Gen AI can help create impactful and effective content and advertisements. It can optimize inventory and logistics, and it can spark fresh creative ideas for new audiences on new platforms.
Perhaps best of all, this rapidly evolving retail technology is just beginning to catch on for companies — especially those in the beauty and fashion retail industries. Only the most forward-thinking start-up owners, executives, and marketing professionals recognize the power of AI can be harnessed and measured.
By experimenting with the technology, brand and company executives can connect with consumers in innovative and effective ways. As Gen AI continues to evolve, the opportunities will only continue to expand for retailers everywhere. To see how PerfectCorp uses this and other technology, request a demo today.
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