Initially, the entrepreneur aimed to provide brands and distributors with an online and offline personalized advice solution thanks to digital technologies.
“Personalized advice is the most powerful conversion tool in the beauty industry,” she says. “When a client gets the help of a Beauty Advisor in a store, it is very likely that she will leave with the product suggested. So, the idea was to develop a digital version of this.”
The tool’s main feature is the help it provides when it comes to choosing the right foundation shade. “We extensively tested consumers’ reactions to digital advice and identified a great opportunity. It is a real challenge with all the existing skin tones. It is almost impossible to do online, and it is tricky in stores, where the bright environment should be taken into account”, she explains.
94% chances to get the right shade
With Cosmecode, the right shade recommendation is made by an algorithm.
The process is quick and easy-to-use. The user takes a picture of herself, then the application shows the corresponding shade in the different brand ranges referenced in the database.
Right now, the mobile app contains 6,500 foundation shades taken from the ranges the most widely available on the market (Chanel, BlackUp, Guerlain, etc.).
“In the long run, we aim to reference all the products available on the market, with permanent updates. But our solution can also perfectly adapt to a brand and its references”, says Mellouki.
Showcased at the last VivaTech show, the Cosmecode prototype boasted a reliability score of 94%, according to the test performed on a selection of three ranges. According to Mellouki, the process is based on the Computer Vision and Deep Learning technologies, but also on huge referencing work.
“This tool is very hard to develop, but it has a tremendous potential. We have started with foundation, but we can also switch to other product categories later, like colours complementary to the complexion, for example, with lipsticks and hair colour”, she adds.
A B2B solution
Supported by a team of five developers, the company Director highlights her tool’s power as part of a B2B approach. Beyond the general public, she targets both distributors and brands with personalized interfaces adapted to any communication world.
“In stores, brands can reference their products on the platform, which will be used as an advisory tool. This way, they can boost their conversion rates, but also provide advice of harmonized quality, a key element for them. Also, we are developing an online version with a plug-in to be integrated to e-commerce websites, so users can get their own shade recommendation before placing an order”, explains Mellouki.
Last, but not least, the Cosmecode solution can very easily go global.
