Through this partnership, VS&Co highlighted its exploration of a new conversational assistant powered by generative-AI, which has been developed using Google Cloud's AI platform, Vertex AI.
The conversational chatbot aims to offer shoppers personalised product recommendations and helpful advice tailored to their individual preferences and life experiences – whether a customer is a sports enthusiast, a nursing mother, a breast cancer survivor recovering from a mastectomy, or simply ready for a new bra.
The brand said it will also harness Google Cloud’s AI technologies to improve customer and associate experiences and drive operational efficiencies within the business.
Victoria & Co pointed out that it actively explores "strategic ways" to integrate Google Cloud's cutting-edge AI technologies to elevate its internal operations.
While the brand's vision includes leveraging these technologies in marketing, analysing customer sentiment and more, it added that Google's AI capabilities could also be used for supply chain optimisation to better forecast product demand and ensure timely inventory management, as well as support human resources and store operations through conversational and personalised associate onboarding and training programmes.
Chris Rupp, chief customer officer at Victoria’s Secret & Co believes the integration of Google Cloud's AI and generative AI technologies will not only improve the online shopping experience for its customers, but also empower the internal teams to drive innovation across various business functions.
Carrie Tharp, vice president of Strategic Industries, Google Cloud, added: "Victoria’s Secret & Co's use of AI and generative AI to fuel its strategic growth plan illustrates how retailers can practically use these new technologies to deliver the full potential of their brands. From building tailored experiences that resonate with shoppers, to transforming how new products are developed and delivered, Victoria’s Secret & Co. is at the forefront of retail innovation."
Victoria’s Secret & Co explained that these new technology initiatives build upon the brand's recently launched AI-powered product search feature. This feature uses Google Cloud's Vision API Product Search technology, enabling users to find a specific product by uploading an image directly into the website's search bar.
The brand further emphasised that its website is driving more than 500 million annual visits and is on a growth trajectory. The company's key priority at the moment is leveraging new technologies to create personalised customer experiences at scale.
Growing prominence of AI in the fashion apparel industry
According to apparel company filings data shared by GlobalData, the keyword "AI" has grown exponentially over the past seven years (2016-2023). In 2016, it was mentioned only 26 times, but by 2023, references to the keyword "AI" had surged to 846.
Other keywords that followed were "data" and "technology," both registering 61 mentions each in 2023.
With the growing popularity of AI in the fashion apparel industry, brands and retailers are pacing up the adoption of AI and related technologies to elevate operational efficiency and customer services experience.
This report detailed that the use of data analytics, fuelled by AI, can also solve the fashion sector’s biggest challenges – like speeding up design and production; proactively identifying new trends and aligning supply with demand to reduce waste.
Our signals coverage is powered by GlobalData’s Thematic Engine, which tags millions of data items across six alternative datasets — patents, jobs, deals, company filings, social media mentions and news — to themes, sectors and companies. These signals enhance our predictive capabilities, helping us to identify the most disruptive threats across each of the sectors we cover and the companies best placed to succeed.
