US' Victoria's Secret signs multi-year partnership with Google Cloud

With Victoria's Secret & Co.'s website now driving more than 500 million annual visits and growing, a key priority for the company is to leverage new technologies to create personalised customer experiences at scale. Under the new, multi-year partnership, the brand will explore a new generative AI-powered conversational assistant, created with Google Cloud's AI platform, Vertex AI. The goal of the conversational chatbot is to provide shoppers with tailored product recommendations and helpful advice based on personal 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.

In December 2022, Victoria's Secret purchased Adore Me, a leading direct-to-consumer lingerie company, with the goal of leveraging Adore Me technology and expertise to continue to improve the Victoria's Secret and PINK customer shopping experience and accelerate the modernization of VS&Co's digital platform. Adore Me has already been using Google Cloud's Vertex AI platform and Duet AI for Google Workspace for generative AI efforts, and this new partnership creates even more synergy across the brands and allows Victoria's Secret & Co. to more easily and quickly integrate large language models created and used by Adore Me.

"The integration of Google Cloud's AI and generative AI technologies will not only improve the online shopping experience for our customers, but also will empower our internal teams to drive innovation across various business functions," said Chris Rupp, chief customer officer, Victoria's Secret & Co. "This partnership signifies a new era for Victoria's Secret & Co, where cutting-edge technology meets our passion for enhancing the customer journey and reinforcing our position as a leader in retail."

Victoria's Secret & Co is actively exploring strategic ways to integrate Google Cloud's cutting-edge AI technologies to elevate its internal operations. The brand's vision includes leveraging these technologies in marketing, analysing customer sentiment and more. 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.

"We are strategically implementing AI to help us better use data to benefit our customers and enhance internal processes. We're excited about the potential use cases including international expansion planning to marketing development and supply chain optimisation," said Murali Sundararajan, chief information officer at Victoria's Secret & Co. "These initiatives could not only streamline our operations but also enable us to better meet the needs of our customers and associates."

Victoria's Secret and Victoria's Secret PINK will also aim to enhance its website and mobile app by implementing Google Cloud's Vertex AI Search for retail technology. This visionary integration can boost the retailer's ability to provide Google-quality search and recommendations capabilities, helping shoppers search, find and discover relevant products more quickly and easily.

"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," said Carrie Tharp, vice president of Strategic Industries, Google Cloud. "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."

These new technology initiatives build on Victoria's Secret & Co's recently introduced, AI-powered product search feature that uses Google Cloud's Vision API Product Search technology to help users to find a specific product by simply dropping an image into the website's search bar. For example, a shopper can upload a photo of a bra from an earlier product lineup and immediately get product recommendations for current bras with a similar fit and style. This feature and other enhancements in partnership with Google Cloud furthers Victoria's Secret & Co's ongoing commitment to delivering world class customer experiences through technological advancements, which is at the very core of how the business operates and thrives.

The selection of Google Cloud's AI technology was based on a variety of factors, but importantly came down to Google Cloud's leadership position in AI security practices, and ability to flexibly integrate with existing business systems at scale.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RR)