Key Takeaways:
When Jonathan Cohen initially spotted Shopify’s new Agentic Storefronts, a feature designed to make it easier for brands to get discovered on AI chatbots like ChatGPT, he immediately forwarded the news to his developer team.
And while Agentic Storefronts isn’t yet available to Onyx Global Group, where Cohen serves as Chief Marketing Officer for the company’s skincare device maker Pure Daily Care and oral care brand AquaSonic, Cohen told BeautyMatter that “as soon as it’s ready, we’re going to be there.”
Beauty brands and retailers have already seen substantial changes in how consumers have been discovering and shopping over the past few decades. Amazon pioneered the initial leap into desktop shopping, which was then followed by mobile and, more recently, social media–led product discovery on channels like TikTok and Instagram.
Now shoppers are evolving yet again, with nearly half of consumers saying they use AI to help guide their shopping journeys, according to a recent global study conducted by IBM and the National Retail Federation (NRF). AI chatbot usage has soared: there are now more than 800 million weekly users of ChatGPT and 750 million monthly users of Google’s Gemini.
Traditional brick-and-mortar retailers and tech-first platforms like Shopify are only beginning to provide more clarity around their AI shopping strategies. Last fall, both Target and Walmart disclosed they would be working with ChatGPT owner OpenAI to develop AI-first shopping experiences. OpenAI also launched an “Instant Checkout” feature to enable direct purchasing from ChatGPT.
Then, in December, Shopify announced the debut of Agentic Storefronts, which will help merchants more “instantly and accurately” get discovered on channels like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot. Initially, this feature launched on ChatGPT for a few select brands, including makeup brand Glossier and shapewear and clothing brands SKIMS and Spanx.
The industry’s strategy further crystallized during the NRF’s annual industry conference in January. During that event, Google—alongside retail partners including Shopify, Target, and Walmart—endorsed a Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP). This UCP would make it easier for shoppers using AI chatbots to make a purchase without having to toggle between different apps, websites, or checkout systems.
When browsing on Gemini and asking questions like “What mascara should I use for a Saturday night dinner party?” The chatbot will share a detailed list of products with direct links to purchase from more than 20 participating retailers, including Sephora, Macy’s, and Ulta Beauty. Many of these retailers are inking partnerships with multiple AI chatbot operators to be everywhere that shoppers are migrating.
AI is completely upending the marketing model: previously, beauty brands would allocate digital advertising to channels like Google Search and Facebook Ads to convert online inquiries into sales. Most of those search queries were simple and short. AI, conversely, involves longer and more detailed prompts like “What can I use to deep clean my teeth?” or “I’m a 40-year-old male dealing with dry skin, but I’m allergic to retinol. What products would you recommend for under $20?”
“All of a sudden, your entire strategy has to shift,” said Cohen. Both of the brands he steers are Shopify customers. What’s vexing him now is figuring out how to get into the good graces of ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other AI chatbots. “It’s even more critical that you have as much information as you can for the AI to pull in and have at its disposal,” he added. “We have to think of all the combinations of things that people could ask.”
Experts say that yet another challenge with AI is that large language models don’t yet pull significantly from what influencers are sharing on TikTok or Instagram. These LLMs rely on text from corporate websites, press releases, and media stories, said Cris Gordon, Chief Brand Officer at marketing and communications agency MMC, in an interview with BeautyMatter.
“What I will predict is that brands will have to adapt some style of AI integration for shopping purposes in the next two to three months,” said Gordon. “It’ll be that quick.”
That pace of change may feel overwhelming to beauty brands that are just beginning to wrap their heads around developing a new GEO strategy, especially when considering the fast-evolving development of the technology. But Gordon advises that they start experimenting now, because she believes that consumers already view AI as a credible source.
“Shopify’s integration, I have no doubt, will continue to build on being able to analyze some of those questions so that brands can better forecast what they need to carry in their inventory,” Gordon said.
Doug Straton, CMO of software company Bazaarvoice, told BeautyMatter that “a lot of the work and rigor that you put into your SEO strategy does carry over to GEO.” SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of making a website more visible to search engines like Google and Yahoo. A lot of those same tactics can be applied to GEO, but with more rigor around the underlying data, because that’s what’s needed for the LLMs to generate consistently accurate prompts for shoppers.
Allyse Cirillo, the CEO and Founder of skincare brand Saint Jō, told BeautyMatter that she was looking “very thoughtfully and carefully” at Shopify’s Agentic Storefronts. Cirillo said her team will want to get more details about how the feature is integrated into Shopify’s existing commerce platform, and how well it answers questions and then follows those prompts with the right recommended products.
“If it can help give a little bit more personalization, less clicking, and more direction, that’s where we would want to start to integrate that a little bit,” said Cirillo.
Ultimately, Saint Jō would want an AI solution that’s similar to what’s available on Meta Platforms, which matches ads closely with product discovery intent on Facebook and Instagram. Startups and established brands have also embraced TikTok Shop, which allows shoppers to browse and buy products featured in videos or during livestreams and now reportedly accounts for nearly 20% of social commerce.
“Consumers really don't want more products, they want more clarity,” said Cirillo. “So if an AI agent can really help explain the routine, give guidance on how to use the products, and when to use the products, that’s really valuable.”