Victoria’s Secret Teams Up With Google on AI-Based Personalization
Lingerie and intimates brand Victoria’s Secret made a cheeky artificial intelligence-related announcement Thursday.
The Adore Me owner has inked a multiyear strategic partnership with Google Cloud to use AI for personalization and product recommendations.
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The brand said it plans to release a conversational chatbot, powered by generative AI.
Per the company, it would provide its customers with personalized recommendations and advice based on their lifestyles and experiences—“whether a customer is a sports enthusiast, a nursing mother, a breast cancer survivor recovering from a mastectomy or simply ready for a new bra,” a release noted.
That chatbot could help bridge the gap between isolated online shopping and in-store conversations about a product with a retail associate.
“The technology can help us provide custom recommendations for individual customers, catering to their diverse profiles, needs and interests,” a Victoria’s Secret spokesperson said in a statement to Sourcing Journal. “It can also improve our knowledge of the customer and help us analyze customer sentiment, which we can use to help inform everything from products to marketing to the shopping experience.”
The company did not share when the AI-powered tool would be released to online customers.
A customer-facing chatbot won’t be the only result of the partnership, the brand said.
Victoria’s Secret said it plans to upgrade its website and app with Google Cloud’s Vertex AI Search technology, which would allow customers to quickly and easily discover the products they are interested in.
Already, Victoria’s Secret’s AI-enabled product search allows customers to drop a photo into the site’s search bar to find specific products. If a particular product is no longer available, the company said, customers will be presented with recommendations for current styles with a similar fit. The apparel company leveraged Google Cloud technology to make this capability a reality.
The company said its vision includes using AI technology for marketing, analyzing customer sentiment and more. It also said Google’s AI capabilities could be deployed for supply chain optimization, demand forecasting and inventory management.
Re-evaluating its supply chain could prove useful; the women’s intimate apparel brand recently took heat for its air cargo emissions.
Store operations, too, could be affected by the newly inked partnership. The Firework partner said it could use Google’s AI capabilities to ameliorate its human resources processes with “conversational and personalized associate onboarding and training programs.”
As it evaluates how AI and generative AI can further boost its business, Victoria’s Secret may turn to Adore Me, which has already integrated Google Cloud’s Vertex AI platform into its systems.
Per the company, “This new partnership creates even more synergy across the brands and allows Victoria’s Secret & Co. to more easily and quickly integrate large language models created and used by Adore Me.”
There could be much more to come for Victoria’s Secret with AI, per a spokesperson.
“We’re still in the early stages of our partnership with Google Cloud and we’re excited for the future enhancements and tools to come,” the spokesperson said.
