This week, I checked in on Sephora\u2019s and Ulta\u2019s bets on AI through integrations with ChatGPT and Google Gemini. Additionally, Zara fires back at Est\u00e9e Lauder\u2019s lawsuit over its use of Jo Malone\u2019s name on perfume, and Circana reports on the beauty sector\u2019s growth in Q1.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In March, Sephora announced an integration of its app within ChatGPT, allowing shoppers to use their Sephora loyalty points and perks within the ChatGPT interface. Just under a month later, Ulta Beauty announced its own artificial intelligence integration via a partnership with Google Gemini, which will see Ulta\u2019s beauty assortment surfaced in Google Gemini shopping results in the coming month and the rollout of a new Ulta AI assistant powered by Gemini.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s good reason for brands and retailers to want their products to appear on emerging AI platforms like OpenAI\u2019s ChatGPT and Google\u2019s Gemini. According to NielsenIQ data, consumers conduct over 1 billion beauty-related searches<\/a> per week on ChatGPT. An April 2026 report from Tinuiti states that more than a third of beauty shoppers \u2014 and over half of Gen Z \u2014 are using AI to research or purchase products.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n But while AI is increasingly a part of beauty consumers\u2019 research and discovery behavior, how much AI can drive conversion remains to be seen \u2014 ChatGPT already walked back its \u201cInstant Checkout\u201d feature<\/a>. Rather than wait for the AI shopping pipeline to fully materialize, however, the two beauty retail giants are jumping in lest they be left behind.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are increasingly starting their shopping journey on these chatbots. I think the question is: Are they converting via that? Is it just informational? Is it just top of funnel?\u201d said Meghana Dhar, a technology and AI advisor who previously served as head of partnerships at Instagram Shopping. \u201cI\u2019d argue that the funnel isn\u2019t fully built out yet, but I do think that they\u2019re moving towards it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Sephora\u2019s and Ulta\u2019s AI bets also come as a digitally native retailer increasingly infringes on their beauty territory: Amazon<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201c[Retailers] are all kind of playing catch-up to Amazon,\u201d said Jason Wielenmann, svp of marketplace performance within e-commerce agency Front Row\u2019s marketplace partnership division. \u201c[Amazon] has had their own algorithm for years and years and years. The best way for other retailers to close that gap is to partner.\u201d<\/p>\n According to data from Front Row, Amazon sold $8.1 billion worth of beauty products in Q1 2026 alone, representing a 13% increase from the same period last year. According to Amazon, its AI bot Rufus is helping drive some of those sales; during the months of November and December, Amazon shoppers who used Rufus to make a purchase spent 80% more than those who did not, the retailer told Glossy.<\/p>\n According to Ulta\u2019s most recent earnings report, net sales at the retailer increased 11.8% to $3.9 billion in Q4 2025. LVMH does not break down results by individual brand, but according to its Q1 2026 results, its selective retailing division, which includes Sephora, saw organic revenue growth of 4%, down 3% on a reported basis.\u00a0<\/p>\n But getting a customer to buy a lipstick or a sunscreen via an AI chatbot isn\u2019t necessarily the only value in integrating with artificial intelligence. For retailers and AI platforms, customer data is just as valuable a currency as a direct sale.<\/p>\n \u201cIdeally, what they\u2019re looking for is to have a closed-loop journey of data. So you\u2019ll be able to understand if someone is searching for something or a brand specifically, how many of those customers end up continuing that brand conversation, and how many actually, then, check out or check out in the future,\u201d said Wielenmann. \u201cThat\u2019s just such a data gold mine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n For Sephora, getting its app in front of ChatGPT users can help the retailer reach those consumers who are starting their beauty shopping journey on the AI platform. But there\u2019s a clear upside for OpenAI to partner with Sephora, too; in February, the AI giant announced it would start showing ads<\/a> to some U.S. users. Letting those users shop the Sephora app may give them more reason to stay on the ChatGPT interface longer \u2014 an important metric for advertisers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt ultimately goes down to engagement,\u201d said Dhar. \u201cWhy did we launch Instagram Shopping? Because we just wanted people to stay in the app longer so we could deliver them more ads and we could sell their eyeballs, right? And so, now, with ChatGPT having an ads model for the free users, there is a clear incentive to get people on the chatbot, engaging further, deeper, longer.\u201d<\/p>\n But while the ultimate goal for investing in AI-powered shopping remains clear, how retailers and AI platforms formulate the most effective tools \u2014 and who gets there first \u2014 remains to be seen.<\/p>\n \u201cThe TLDR is that I don\u2019t think anyone knows the right go-to-market with [AI] shopping. Everyone\u2019s trying to figure it out. It\u2019s a race to figure it out,\u201d said Dhar.<\/p>\n Executive moves:\u00a0<\/p>\n Eduardo Valadez joined Maison Francis Kurkdjian as interim head of sales, North America. Valadez was previously vp of marketing at The Fragrance Group and held roles at Diptyque. Co-founder and CEO Marc Chaya recently stepped down from the luxury fragrance brand, which has yet to name a successor.\u00a0<\/p>\n News to know:<\/p>\n Armani is considering selling a 15% to LVMH, L\u2019Or\u00e9al and EssilorLuxottica following the designer\u2019s passing in September. Per Giorgio Armani\u2019s will, the fashion house must sell a 15% stake of the company within 12-18 months of his \u200bdeath.<\/p>\n Zara denies infringing on Est\u00e9e Lauder\u2019s Jo Malone trademark. The Est\u00e9e Lauder Companies sued the perfume founder Jo Malone and Zara in March over the use of Malone\u2019s name on a collaborative perfume between the fast fashion retailer and her perfume brand Jo Loves. Malone sold her eponymous fragrance brand to Est\u00e9e Lauder in 1999, the terms of which prevented her from using her name to market perfume.\u00a0<\/p>\n Costa Brazil opened a flagship store in New York\u2019s Hudson Yards. The body-care brand founded by former Calvin Klein designer Francisco Costa folded in 2023 when its then-parent company, Amyris, ceased operations. Costa relaunched the brand in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n Stat of the week:<\/p>\n U.S. prestige beauty retail dollar sales grew 6% to $8.1 billion in the first quarter of 2026, according to data from market analysts Circana. Mass beauty sales grew 7% to $18.1 billion in the same period, with unit sales in both mass and prestige also growing in the low single digits.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the headlines:<\/p>\n In the Hudson Valley, a beef tallow beauty brand<\/a> opens its first store. Inside Grasse, where flowers for Chanel No. 5<\/a> have been grown for more than a century. How beauty brands make the cut at \u2014 and get cut from \u2014 Erewhon<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Listen in:\u00a0<\/p>\n What is PDRN<\/a> and how did it get so popular? In this week\u2019s episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, co-host Sara Spruch-Feiner dives into the trendy ingredient with New York City-based dermatologist Dr. David Kim; the former editor-in-chief of Allure magazine and fractional CMO for K-Beauty distributor Landing International, Michelle Lee; and the founder of Rodial, Maria Hatzistefanis. They discuss what it purports to do for the skin, how it got so popular and how it is expanding beyond Korean beauty.<\/p>\n Need a Glossy recap?\u00a0<\/p>\n Glossy 101: How did BPC-157 become the wellness industry\u2019s star peptide<\/a>? Why TikTok\u2019s comments section<\/a> is driving the majority of first purchases right now. Coty is pivoting CoverGirl to Gen X market<\/a> amid 1% decline in net revenue. Bluemercury<\/a> is taking a hands-on approach to staying ahead in a competitive beauty retail environment. How beauty tapped in at the Miami Grand Prix<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This week, I checked in on Sephora\u2019s and Ulta\u2019s bets on AI through integrations with ChatGPT and Google…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35550,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,25,20582,20583],"class_list":["post-35549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ai","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-glossy","tag-plus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}