Sephora launches more beauty bots on Facebook Messenger

SAN FRANCISCO -- Sephora is launching two new bot-powered beauty tools available now exclusively on Messenger.

Sephora Reservation Assistant is an appointment booking bot to reserve a makeover at Sephora stores across the United States. Color Match for Sephora Virtual Artist is a shade matching addition to the Sephora Virtual Artist bot that scans any photo and instantly provides the closest lipstick color match from Sephora's entire assortment.



"Our two new bots for Messenger offer enhanced ways for our clients to engage with Sephora by streamlining how they access relevant service and product information on their mobile devices," said Mary Beth Laughton, SVP of Digital for Sephora. "We're excited to leverage the Messenger platform to create quick and natural conversational interactions that are client-led. This allows us to provide richer, more varied conversations that ensure clients get exactly what they want out of the experience." 

SEPHORA RESERVATION ASSISTANT

The new Sephora Reservation Assistant bot is available by chatting with Sephora on Messenger. The conversational interface allows clients to tell the bot which store location and service they want and then instantly receive the closest dates and times. The bot uses NLP (natural language processing) to understand what the client types in free-from text, like the name of a city or a combination of date and time. The client can also book the appointment completely in Messenger, and instantly receive a confirmation email.  

SEPHORA COLOR MATCH FOR SEPHORA VIRTUAL ARTIST ON MESSENGER          

Sephora has partnered with ModiFace, the leading creator of augmented reality technology for the beauty industry, to develop this exclusive new feature for the Sephora Virtual Artist bot that can detect and accurately estimate the shade in any photo and match it with lipstick products available at Sephora. The technology uses advanced Artificial Intelligence to understand the contents of images, whether it's an object, another beauty product or the face of a favorite celebrity, and automatically provide instant, relevant results through a simple interaction on Sephora Virtual Artist for Messenger. Matches can be virtually tried on and then purchased from Sephora.com