Inovshop Group “Bridges the Gap Between Digital and Physical Retail” for Amazon’s First Parapharmacy, in Italy

Situation: Helping Amazon Create a Great Experience for Brick & Mortar Retail  

Inovshop Group is passionate about retail. With 40 years of retail expertise, the group is an international company specializing in the construction, layout, design, and equiping of retail points of sale. The group has developed its expertise to meet all in-store needs, becoming the partner of choice for the biggest names in retail.

True to its name, Inovshop claims innovation as its driving force in creating transformation and development solutions for all the stores that it supports. The company’s dual nature makes it different: both Pragmatic Thinker and Creative Maker. The company’s attitude is that everything is possible, and whatever needs to be done, deserves to be done well.

When Inovshop Group was engaged by Amazon to help create Amazon’s first-ever parapharmacy, in Milan, Italy, it needed to find a way to creatively bridge the gap between digital and physical retail.

Solution: Perfect Corp.’s AI/AR-Powered Technology 

Inovshop Group deployed Perfect Corp.’s AI Skin Analysis technology, which harnesses the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) to enable consumers to understand their precise skin condition. Perfect Corp. is the leader in providing AI/AR solutions for the beauty industry. 

The Perfect Corp. AI Skin Analysis tool, Skincare Pro, detects 15 skin concerns in seconds, providing dermatology-grade results using an iPhone camera or iPad. Designed for plastic surgeons, aesthetic clinics, med spas and other providers, it delivers instant data on skin conditions, including a skin age report. 

As Inovshop Group prepared for the honor and challenge of creating Amazon’s first parapharmacy in Milan, a city famous for birthing great designs, they wanted to integrate augmented reality to enhance the customer experience.  Inovshop Group deployed the same professional-grade Perfect Corp. AI Skincare Pro for its retail setting to help educate consumers on their skin condition, and guide product recommendations.

In Italy, a parapharmacy is much like retail pharmacies in the U.S., with the exception that prescription medications aren’t dispensed. 

Benefits

Inovshop Group has found numerous benefits in working with Perfect Corp.’s AI/AR skin analysis technology, including:

• Bridging the gap between digital and physical retail
• Reimagining the customer experience with AI Skincare Pro
• Skincare Pro is “the perfect icebreaker” for customer interaction
• Empowering the salesperson to make the recommendations
• Perfect Corp. is a great company to work with

Bridging the Gap Between Digital and Physical Retail

Inovshop Group integrated Perfect Corp’s sophisticated AI and AR skincare technologies with its other unique retail digitalization systems and pragmatic customer experience to bridge the gap between digital and physical retail.

This synergistic combination creates a dynamic and engaging environment for Amazon’s first parapharmacy, where customers can seamlessly explore products. In addition to Perfect Corp.’s AI Skin Analysis tool, AI Skincare Pro, Inovshop Group integrated a “Place & Learn” feature, so customers can simply place a product on a sensor-equipped surface, which immediately reveals relevant product details to support their shopping journey.

“Our mission was to bridge the gap between digital and physical retail,” says Remi Rouane, VP of International and General Manager of Digital at Inovshop Group. “With these advanced technologies, we’re redefining how customers engage with products and brands.”

Amazon shares the vision of bridging digital and retail shopping experiences. 

 “We’ve designed this store to bring us one step closer to our customers and to deliver an innovative experience, merging cutting-edge technology with expert advice,” says Giorgio Busnelli, VP of Consumer Goods for Europe at Amazon in a statement. “Thanks to this opening, we will be able to expand our online beauty and personal care product offerings across Amazon’s stores in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK throughout the year. This broadened selection reflects our dedication to meet the diverse needs of our customers, both at our physical store in Milan and online in Europe.”

Reimagining the Customer Experience with AI Skincare Pro

Inovshop Group reimagined the customer experience for the Amazon parapharmacy by creating a dedicated retail space for a cosmetics zone within the store, called the Derma Bar. 

The Derma Bar is both stunning and inviting with Inovshop’s innovative design which incorporates specially designed interactive mirrors integrated with iPads running Perfect Corp. AI Skincare Pro.

Skincare Pro enhances the Derma Bar experience by providing customers with a personalized skin analysis covering 15 unique skin concerns to create a customized skin profile. With AI-driven real-time skin analysis, customers can gain insights into their skincare needs, creating a seamless way for Amazon’s staff to engage visitors in personalized product recommendations.

 “The purpose of this project was very simple,” says Remi Rouane. “Amazon was looking for creating exciting customer experiences for visitors to its physical stores. As a retail design and furniture company it was our goal to create a perfect customer journey and we found the best way to make that happen was by incorporating an exciting and hyper realistic augmented experience, which we were able to do using Perfect Corp. AI Skin Analysis technology.”

AI Skincare Pro is “The Perfect Icebreaker” for Customer Interaction

Integrating AI Skincare Pro as part of the Derma Bar has proven to be a great icebreaker for sales staff to use when a customer comes into the space.

“Traditionally when a customer enters a shop, a salesperson will say ‘How can I help you?’ And too often, the customer answers, ‘No, that’s okay, ’” Remi Rouane says. “That can lead to missed sales.”

Perfect Corp. AI Skincare Pro provides a more interesting way to initiate the customer interaction.

“We wanted to create an icebreaker for salespeople to use, and we found it with our interactive mirrors using Perfect Corp. AI Skincare Pro,” Remi Rouane says. “Now we’ve created a special moment so when a customer enters the shop, a sales vendor can say, ‘Would you like to do a skin analysis, to see if there’s anything you would like to target?’ This is a very effective way of engaging with a customer.”

Empowering the Salesperson to Make the Recommendations

Inovshop Group appreciates the deployment flexibility of Perfect Corp. AI Skincare Pro. While many organizations customize AI Skincare Pro to automatically point the customer to product recommendations for specific skin conditions, Inovshop Group deploys it so that recommendations are instead seen by the sales staff.

“We felt it created a stronger connection if we let the salesperson be the one to see which of the store’s products were recommended for each skin condition,” Remi Rouane says. “This way they get to be the one making  recommendations to the customer. We wanted to retain that human connection and let the salesperson describe why this was the best product for the customer. This empowers the salesperson while providing the customer with a more personalized shopping experience. This adds to the entire customer journey.”

Perfect Corp. Is a Great Company to Work With

Inovshop Group found Perfect Corp. to be a great company to work with. “We come from a design and build background, creating furniture also digital experience, but not so specifically software,” Remi Rouane says. “So we appreciated the ease with which we could work with Perfect Corp. to create exactly what we needed to incorporate to provide an augmented reality experience for customers entering the Derma Bar.” 

About Perfect Corp. 

Perfect Corp. is the leading SaaS AI and AR beauty and fashion tech solutions provider, dedicated to transforming shopping experiences through empowering brands to embrace the digital-first world. 

By partnering with the largest names in the industry, Perfect Corp.’s suite of enterprise solutions delivers synergistic, technology-driven experiences that facilitate sustainable, ultra-personalized, and engaging shopping journeys, as well as equipping brands with next generation of consumer goods.

Perfect Corp. offers a complementary suite of mobile apps, including YouCam Makeup and YouCam Perfect, to provide a consumer platform to virtually try on new products, perform skin diagnoses, edit photos, and share experiences with the YouCam Community. 

To learn more, please visit PerfectCorp.com.