Douglas Expands AI Portfolio with Innovative Beauty Chatbot

The Douglas Group has developed an AI-powered beauty advisor as a new innovation to enhance the omnichannel experience. The company continues to expand its extensive AI technology portfolio.“Customers today expect a highly personalized shopping experience and individual inspiration. With innovations such as an AI Beauty Advisor Chatbot, we are working to meet these needs,” said Philipp Andrée , Chief Commercial Officer of the Douglas Group.

Powered by Google Cloud's cutting-edge AI technology, the chatbot is designed to assist and inspire customers with personalized product recommendations, beauty tips, personal care suggestions and gift buying advice based on individual preferences. During the initial testing phase, the chatbot will be available exclusively to Douglas Group employees. Its availability to customers will largely depend on the results of this test phase, as it must meet stringent performance and reliability standards.

AI is already being used in customer service. For example, customers can use the Douglas app to analyze their skin and the Fragrance Finder to discover fragrances that match their preferences. In addition, an augmented reality feature allows customers to virtually test cosmetic products. On the backend, Douglas uses AI tools for various purposes, including sourcing, pricing, and demand forecasting. Generative AI is also used in marketing to create images and copy, and to plan budgets.

Fighting eCommerce Fraud: Mastercard Proposes One-Click Payments For Europe

萬事達卡 is proposing a one-click payment system for Europe by 2030. This system aims to streamline online transactions by eliminating the need for manual card entry. To improve both security and convenience, Mastercard plans to use several technologies.

Tokenization replaces sensitive card data with unique tokens, reducing the risk of fraud in eCommerce. Click to Pay, Mastercard's existing online checkout system, simplifies the payment process for consumers. In addition, biometric authentication uses fingerprint or facial recognition for secure and convenient online payments, replacing passwords and one-time codes.

This initiative is in line with the European Commission's Digital Decade policy, which emphasizes digitization across various sectors by 2030, including improvements in digital infrastructure, secure transactions and innovation. As Europe continues its digital transformation, initiatives like Mastercard's one-click payment system will play a critical role in facilitating secure and efficient online transactions.

Mastercard is working with banks and FinTech companies to facilitate the adoption of this one-click system. "By bringing issuing and acquiring banks on this journey with us, we can make it happen sooner than you think," said Jorn Lambert , Chief Product Officer at Mastercard.

eBay Deploys AI-Based Tool To Modify Product Picture Background

Generating commercial images is increasingly becoming one of the preferred uses of artificial intelligence (AI). US e-tailer eBay has announced it has deployed an AI-based tool that enables users to digitally change the background of a product presentation picture, a practice that is more and more widespread.

eBay’s new tool is currently available in the USA, the UK and Germany. It is described as easy to use, and it digitally turns products around to remove and replace their picture’s background. It is an ideal solution in the case of sales between private individuals, as occasional sellers are usually less well-equipped for photographing their products professionally.

“We are using AI to help our vendors produce their adverts in a faster, higher-quality and more transparent way,” said Xiaodi Zhang , Vice-President Seller Experience at eBay. “Our vendors’ time is valuable, and we want to make sure our tools enable them to achieve their sales promotion goals and drive more revenue,” added Zhang.

In September, eBay deployed another AI-based solution, aimed at automatically generating product names and descriptions based on visual analysis. Solutions to change product photo backgrounds were adopted by Amazon last October, and by Google the following month.