09.29.16
Kik Interactive, maker of chat platform Kik, which is a messaging app, has launched a Fashion and Beauty Bot category in its Bot Shop. The Bots are intended to make shopping more social.
Kik's new Beauty Bot Shop includes leading brands, such as the Sephora Bot, as well as beauty influencers like GettingPretty. Kik's users can now include multiple bots in chats with friends for a better shopping experience.
What's a Bot? CNET explains here.
Teens Are Using Bots To Make Shopping Online More Social
Since April, brands in Kik's Bot Shop have seen high engagement from Kik's teen demographic, with more than two billion messages exchanged with the platform's bots to date.
"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."
New Functionality for Kik's Fashion & Beauty Bots
Bots in the new fashion and beauty category also display new chat functionality, for users that are on Kik's Chat app.
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, fashion and beauty 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.
Kik's new Beauty Bot Shop includes leading brands, such as the Sephora Bot, as well as beauty influencers like GettingPretty. Kik's users can now include multiple bots in chats with friends for a better shopping experience.
What's a Bot? CNET explains here.
Teens Are Using Bots To Make Shopping Online More Social
Since April, brands in Kik's Bot Shop have seen high engagement from Kik's teen demographic, with more than two billion messages exchanged with the platform's bots to date.
"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."
New Functionality for Kik's Fashion & Beauty Bots
Bots in the new fashion and beauty category also display new chat functionality, for users that are on Kik's Chat app.
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, fashion and beauty 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.