How Victoria's Secret is using AI to transform online shopping

From retail to e-tail

Lingerie firm Victoria's Secret is leveraging Google Cloud's AI systems to replicate the in-store retail experience online.

Earlier this year, international lingerie brand Victoria's Secret entered into a multi-year partnership with Google Cloud: one that CIO Murali Sundararajan says will create "a more personalised and inclusive online shopping experience" for customers.

Online stores have promised this for years, and it inevitably takes the form of some rather confusing product recommendations. No, I really do only need one spirit level - thanks.

Victoria's Secret is taking a more advanced approach, leveraging Google Cloud's AI and generative AI, technologies that have received plenty of buzz since ChatGPT came onto the scene in late 2022. But how does that play into a retail offering?

"Customers crave new ways to connect with our brands online," says Sundararajan. "We want to create a welcoming, intimate experience similar to being in a physical store, reimagined for the online consumer."

One way the brand is doing that is by making it easier to search for items online. In a physical store you can go to a salesperson and ask for help if you're struggling to find an item: something not generally available online. To get around this, Victoria's Secret recently introduced an AI-powered product search feature using Google Cloud's Vision API Product Search technology.

The feature "is [designed] 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 line-up and immediately get product recommendations for current bras with a similar fit and style."

In the future the company also plans to leverage Vertex AI to create a new generative AI-powered conversational assistant - coming closer to replicating that in-store shopping experience with a bot that can suggest products and give advice based on the user.

But why Google Cloud in the first place? With AWS and Azure dominating the enterprise cloud space, why did Victoria's Secret invest in Google?

It comes down to history, Sundararajan explains, particularly the 2022 purchase of direct-to-consumer lingerie company Adore Me. That purchase was driven by "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 modernisation of VS&Co's digital platform."

Adore Me had already been using the Vertex AI platform and Duet AI for Google Workspace for its own gen-AI efforts. "This 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."

While AI will help Victoria's Secret expand "at scale," the company is currently in "the early stages" of its Google Cloud partnership. For now it plans to roll AI out domestically first, before bringing the new features to its global customer base.