JILL STUART Integrates Perfect Corp.’s Interactive AR Live Training with Virtual Try-On to Conduct Beauty Stylist Training Amid Covid-19
Jill Stuart cosmetics launched in 2005, the same year the New York-born famous fashion brand JILL STUART celebrated its 10th anniversary. Innocent Sexy – Jill has created a crowned jewel for every princess, offering luxurious, elegant, and fun styles for every girl. Today, the brand has 95 stores in Japan and celebrates its 15th anniversary.
In June 2020, JILL STUART cosmetics, part of Kosé Corporation, held beauty stylist training for new product launches using Perfect Corp.’s online AR live beauty training service, YouCam A.R.T.. The brand transitioned from traditional physical sessions to online training in response to global health concerns during the COVID-19 outbreak. The feedback from beauty stylists was very positive: “I paid attention and focused on the session as much as I would in real training.” “I can watch video replay and review any content I might have missed.” Questionnaires were collected immediately after the session and many of YouCam AR training functions were extremely convenient.
KOSÉ Corporation
Mr. Yosuke Kubo, Sales Planning, Strategic Brand Division
Ms. Noriko Watanabe Sales Planning, Strategic Brand Division
― why did you decide to deploy YouCam ART?
Until now, our trainers visited each region physically to conduct JILL STUART’s beauty stylists training. However, due to COVID-19 and possible risk of cluster infections, we decided to look for a new training method that we could use remotely. That is when we found out that YouCam Makeup, which we already have been utilizing in our stores, has an education tool and we were happy to try this service. As the effects of COVID-19 pandemic are expected to last longer than we anticipated, the demand for non-touch beauty consultations has been steadily increasing. We also thought that YouCam ART could help our beauty stylists better understand how our consumers are using the non-touch consultations that we recently implemented in our stores.
― what was your decision making factor to deploy YouCam ART?
We recognize that YouCam Makeup is one of the essential tools that in-store beauty stylists need to utilize. Once you install YouCam Makeup on your own phone, it is all set and ready for the training session. JILL STUART has many young beauty stylists who are extremely comfortable with mobile technology. We were not able to hand out tablets to each participant since most of us are still working from home, so being able to use a smartphone was a terrific way to conduct the training.
― taking current circumstances into consideration, with traditional in-store makeup application and testing being out of reach, how is the beauty training adapting?
Until now, we conveyed products’ key points and brand messages through in-store makeup services provided by our beauty stylists. Since we cannot provide such services anymore, we are educating our stylists, so they in turn can teach consumers how to find the right products and apply makeup on their own
― what are your thoughts after using YouCam ART?
Our beauty stylists commented that they learned as much as they normally do from traditional training sessions. Everyone was very impressed with the video replay capability that allows to recap the material or to catch up on the content they might have missed. There were many positive comments, such as “It is great that I can go back and revisit the part of the session that I’ve missed” and “I can watch it again for recap.” We saw that 63% of the participants went back and viewed video replay.
The interactive ‘LIKE’ button was a fun element added to the session and everyone enjoyed it. The interactive AR live training allowed our trainees to feel as if they were having a one-on-one session with the trainer. Participants were highly motivated and concentrated on the online session better compared with a real physical session. Overall, the level of interaction is comparable to that of a physical session.
― 88% of the viewers answered questionnaires, what does this number indicate?
We conducted surveys using YouCam ART’s built-in function. 88% of trainees answered the questions, about the same number of responses we receive during traditional sessions. Normally, we hand out paper questionnaires and need extra time to collect all the answers, as there are 350 different papers from each participant. With YouCam ART’s survey feature, we could see the results instantly, which is extremely efficient
We asked our beauty stylists a question that we always ask during traditional training sessions: “Which color do you think will become the bestseller?” We usually require some time to gather and analyze the answers, but with YouCam ART we receive the data immediately. We can quickly export it into an Excel file and easily share the report with other teams. We can then use the data for production and order quantity calculations.
― was there anything that you could not do during the online session? Did you experience any drawbacks?
As trainers cannot see viewers’ faces, we prepared many quiz questions and used the poll function to be able to understand how the viewers are following along. In addition, textures and scents could not be experienced physically, so we explained a lot verbally. However, we could show slides during our session and some staff members mentioned that online presentation was easier to focus on. So, there are some elements that are more prominent online. We will need to think of a balanced way to use both online and offline formats.
― how is YouCam ART different from other video conferencing systems?
We use other video conferencing software for staff meetings, but we think it is best to use YouCam ART for educational purposes, especially when teaching our beauty stylists to better understand and experience the product. Other video conferencing solutions have darker lighting, which could be tricky when demonstrating colors. We had 30 different shades of lipstick in this particular training session and viewers could freely try on any color they wanted.
Overall, YouCam ART is a very simple and helpful solution for our beauty training. We are curious to see how the products that we used in YouCam AR live training will perform in the stores. Let’s see if we can utilize the service even more efficiently.
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