Dive Brief:
- Dutch fashion retailer Omoda has partnered with Google to create Omoda Stylist, an artificial intelligence (AI) powered conversational online agent, as well as a Discover the Look feature that helps customers shop for entire outfits rather than individual items, according to a press release.
- The features leverage Google Cloud’s Vertex AI platform, Gemini models, multimodal embeddings and Vector search to create an experience similar to having a personal stylist on hand. With the tool, customers can describe the type of outfit they are looking for, like “bohemian wedding look,” and see tailored results.
- The conversational AI feature is the first phase of a larger plan to develop a more robust online shopping experience, including avatar-based outfit visualization and wardrobe integration, according to Omoda.
Dive Insight:
Google has already implemented several AI tools, such as virtual try-on features, product summaries and detailed recommendations based on search queries, on its own Google Shopping platform. Omoda Stylist takes things a bit further and may be a signal of what Google hopes to offer more retailers on a broader scale.
In addition to integrating conversational speech to provide entire outfit options, the Omoda Stylist’s Discover the Look functionality makes recommendations from customers’ favorite and complementary brands to present a tailored shopping experience. As a result, customers who engage with Discover the Look convert at a rate that is 2.5 times higher than those that don’t.
“By combining Google Cloud's generative AI with Omoda's structured data and deep retail expertise, we're enabling the next era of personalized retail,” said Joost Smit, head of Benelux for Google Cloud, in a release. “This partnership exemplifies how AI can enhance consumer experiences while driving tangible business outcomes for retailers.”
Online retail sales hit a record $241.4 billion over the most recent holiday season, according to recent figures from Adobe Analytics. The use of AI-powered tools notably increased as consumers grew more comfortable using the technology to source certain items, uncover deals and get product recommendations.
