Dive Brief:
- Beauty giant Coty debuted a multisensory virtual reality experience that immerses users into its fragrances and helps shoppers find a new scent from the company's portfolio of fragrances, the company announced in a press release. The VR experience kicked off at a shop in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with plans to expand to multiple retailers and Coty brands.
- Shoppers participate in the experience by wearing a VR headset and picking up seven scented stones to activate an eight-second video that brings the specific "olfactive territory" to life, along with 3D visuals and sound. Each stone is linked to a scent style, like "citrus-watery" or "floral fruity," rather than a specific Coty fragrance.
- Before donning the headset, shoppers provide their name and email address and list the perfume they regularly wear. After the experience, they then receive personalized recommendations from Coty's brands, as well as a follow-up email asking whether the experience helped them find a new fragrance or inspired them to make a purchase. The VR experience was developed by Coty's in-house innovation team with DVgroup.
Dive Insight:
Coty's new VR fragrance experience is the brand's latest venture into advanced technology to provide unique and memorable experiences for beauty shoppers. The new mixed-reality experience aims to forge deeper connections with consumers as they shop for a fresh scent. Asking people to share their name, email address and whether the experience sparked a purchase will help Coty learn more about its target consumer base, generate leads for Coty to deliver future personalized email marketing content and provide deeper insights into how well the VR experience directly drives sales. For consumers, the immersive tech aids the shopping journey and could lead to stronger associations with Coty, especially as the experience is personalized based on the user's general scent preferences.
The move appears ideal for courting Gen Z shoppers, who tend to prefer in-store shopping but are often drawn to online out of convenience. Retailers and brands are increasingly infusing their stores with technologies that enhance the shopping experience or provide additional product details. Coty's VR fragrance setup follows a blended reality mirror the company unveiled at a boutique in Paris in April. The mirror lets shoppers virtually sample lipsticks to find the right shade and add eye makeup and blush to complete the look. A selfie feature includes information about the products a customer tried on, which they can print at the store or email to themselves for future reference.
Coty has continuously invested in innovation as it strives to build awareness and loyalty across its brands, especially as the beauty space grows increasingly cutthroat. The company launched an accelerator program for technology startups earlier this year with a competition focusing on artificial intelligence innovations. Deploying more interactive and immersive experiences could help the company's perfume portfolio stand out in the luxury fragrance market and position itself as a tech-powered leader in the broader beauty space.
