Bath & Body Works and Accenture scale headless e-commerce and immersive customer experiences with AI

07 Jun 2024 --- Bath & Body Works is collaborating with Accenture to “modernize, transform and simplify” its core digital and technology platforms through a newly launched multi-year program. The initiative leverages the latest technologies in digital, MarTech, AI and generative AI to drive growth.

Bath & Body Works will create “new and innovative” capabilities, such as a digital Fragrance Finder and a gen AI-powered conversational experience, to help customers find the perfect fragrance tailored to their individual preferences.

“We are focused on leveraging our core strengths in fragrance and augmenting these with cutting-edge technology and AI experiences such as native mobile, headless commerce, MarTech and transformer-based neural networks to deliver hyper-relevant and immersive experiences to customers with greater precision,” says Thilina Gunasinghe, chief digital and technology officer, Bath & Body Works.

Consumers receptive to conversational AI
Accenture previously worked with Unilever to explore new applications to help scale generative AI. The company’s consumer Pulse 2024 research found that more than half (51%) of consumers are already open to using conversational AI solutions.

Accenture found than half (51%) of consumers are already open to using conversational AI solutions.Another Accenture report titled, “Generative AI for Customer Growth” found that companies applying gen AI to customer-related initiatives can expect to achieve 25% higher revenue after five years than companies that focus only on productivity.

“Our collaboration with Accenture is about having a strong technology foundation and scaling the power of digital, data and AI to deliver new levels of customer experiences, agility and performance,” says Gina Boswell, CEO of Bath & Body Works.

“This will help us accelerate profitable growth by enhancing our operations, elevating our brand and engaging our customers differently through personalized and seamless experiences that keep them coming back.”

Julie Sweet, chair and CEO at Accenture, adds: “Together, we will build a strong digital core of cloud, data and AI and innovative gen AI solutions that can help Bath & Body Works create value, foster growth and continually delight their customers in new ways.”

Next-gen customer service
Cosmetic giants are increasingly trialing generative AI, including Clarins, with its new platform Clara. On Clarins’ website, Clara delivers around-the-clock attention to consumers with live consultations, beauty classrooms, live streaming and customer care services.

Last April, The Estée Lauder Companies and Microsoft co-unveiled an AI Innovation Lab. Leveraging generative AI capabilities in Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service, the companies will develop solutions that equip ELC’s more than 20 prestige beauty brands with “closer consumer connections” and “increased speed to market with local relevance.”

Edited by Benjamin Ferrer