HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach^[1] - 12 August 2021 - A.S. Watson Group^[2], the world's largest international health & beauty retailer, has announced the launch of its Foundation Finder in its mobile app to help customers identify their perfect foundation colours and shade.

Launched firstly in Watsons Hong Kong and Malaysia, the flagship health & beauty brand of A.S. Watson, Foundation Finder will later be rolled out to other Asian markets including the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan. A.S. Watson is also exploring the possibility to launch in Europe. It is now offering customers up to 700 foundation products from over 30 brands. The function will first appear on the Watsons mobile app and then will extend to digital gadgets in-store.

According to Malina Ngai, CEO of A.S. Watson (Asia & Europe), "Most beauty lovers struggle to find the right shade as normally we apply foundation tester on hands. In most cases, the skin colour on hands is slightly different from the face. We know this is the pain point of customers and this inspires us to work on a solution. Our eLab digital team developed this together with Watsons makeup artists. I've tried it, and am confident that our customers will love it."

Technology Enhances the O+O Retail Shopping Experience

Developed by A.S. Watson's own in-house digital agency eLab, the Foundation Finder offers a seamless O+O retail shopping experience to its customers, thanks to its Advanced Facial Analysis Technology. The state-of-the-art technology helps customers to find the right foundation that matches perfectly to the customer's skin type and skin tone.

Customers can simply take a selfie and answer a few simple questions about their skin conditions and makeup style preferences, and the app will recommend foundations that best suit the customers' needs. It also gives the option for customers to then choose a lighter or darker shade based on their individual preference. The function is digitally connected to the Watsons online store, so customers can immediately order their recommended products and have it delivered to their homes or pick up in stores. They can also save the recommendation via email for later reference when visiting the stores.

Innovation Makes Shopping Fun and Easy

Ngai shares her experience, "We all have foundations at home which we're not happy with the colour as they don't give a perfect match. Making use of AR technology, we can help our customers to find a much closer match to give a perfect look.

"In fact, we've been pioneering the application of AR technology in our O+O experience for beauty lovers. Simply using our Watsons app on their smart phones, they can try on different colour cosmetics and hair colour. Customers are now addicted to their phones, and being able to build a relationship with them involves both our physical store touch point as well as digital is the essence of our O+O strategy. And being relevant and fun is key to add value to our customers' daily lives."    

References

1. ^{^} Media OutReach (www.media-outreach.com)
2. ^{^} A.S. Watson Group (www.aswatson.com)