Kik Launches Fashion & Beauty Bot Category

Kik Interactive, the company behind online chat platform Kik, has launched a fashion and beauty bot category. The new category includes a mix of branded and brand-agnostic “concierge” bots (internet robots), and users can now include multiple bots in chats.
 
Bots in the new fashion and beauty category also display new chat functionality, according to Kik. Previously, users could call bots into conversations using mentions, a feature that allows bots to participate in conversation threads involving multiple parties, including groups. Now, the bots can interact with each other, offering teens a new way to browse outfits and shop together, all within their one-on-one or group chats. For example, when searching for a specific product in the Sephora bot, Sephora can now introduce a concierge bot such as BeautyTube to provide tips and how-to videos specific to the chat and the product, creating a better shopping experience. Users will also be able to leverage features such as invites to ask friends for fashion and beauty advice while simultaneously chatting with a bot.
 
Branded bots include H&M, Kipling, Sephora, and Victoria's Secret PINK, which will give teens direct access to their favorite brands, where they can browse new styles, get outfit and makeup recommendations and be directed to the brand's mobile site, all within the bot. Concierge bots include BeautyTube, CelebStyle, InspoBot and TrendBot.
 
Since April, brands in Kik's Bot Shop, ranging from CNN to Victoria's Secret PINK, have seen high engagement from Kik's teen demographic, with more than two billion messages exchanged with the platform's bots to date, according to the group.
 
“Shopping is a social experience, and our new fashion and beauty category will allow our users to experience all the elements of the shopping journey—discovery, research, and sharing—with their friends,” said Ted Livingston, founder and CEO of Kik. “This provides a more direct way for brands to connect with teens in their native environment and demonstrates how services continue to evolve in chat.”
 
Kik launched the Beautycon bot on Sept. 13 and is collaborating with Beautycon for its New York festival on Oct. 1. As part of the bot experience, Beautycon and Kik partnered on a giveaway, in which one lucky winner would win an all-expense paid trip to attend Beautycon with a parent and friend. In addition, Kik users attending the event can chat with the Beautycon bot, scan Kik Codes, and avoid waiting in line at select exhibits for major beauty brands, including L'Oreal Paris and NYX.