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AI-driven Customer Experience 06/16/2026
Düsseldorf, 16 June, 2026 – The DOUGLAS Group, Europe’s leading premium beauty retailer, further elevates the digital shopping experience with the launch of its AI Beauty Advisor “ANNA” for the DOUGLAS app and online shop. Leveraging Google Cloud’s advanced AI technology, and powered by DOUGLAS’ beauty expertise and unique insights from more than 64 million Beauty Card loyalty program members, the chatbot is designed to assist and inspire customers with personalized beauty advice, product recommendations, and routine ideas, as well as gift shopping guidance based on individual preferences and dynamic conversations. The name “ANNA” reflects both heritage and innovation: it honors Anna Carstens, who opened the first “Parfümerie Douglas” in Hamburg in 1910 together with her sister Maria, and stands for “AI Needs & Navigation Advisor”.
“ANNA” marks the next addition to the company’s wide range of AI-powered services for customers and is set to have a positive impact on customer satisfaction, conversion rates, item value, and basket size. The chatbot will be continuously enhanced over the coming months and years with functionality updates, CRM and customer service integration, and additional features.
To ensure optimal service quality and reliability, “ANNA” is currently being introduced to all German customers in a phased rollout, allowing for continuous testing under real-life conditions. Building on the successful launch in Germany, the Group also plans to bring “ANNA” to further markets.
Pioneering customer experience with AI
“AI is fundamentally changing how customers discover products and make purchasing decisions,” said Marcel Uphues, Chief E-Com Officer of the DOUGLAS Group. “Today’s consumers expect highly personalized experiences, inspiration, and expert guidance – and simple answers instead of complex navigation. As Europe’s leading premium beauty retailer, we are strategically leveraging AI to continuously elevate the shopping experience for our customers. Our new AI Beauty Advisor ‘ANNA’ is an important milestone on this journey, bringing expert consultation into the digital space and extending the personalized advice customers know from our stores – inspiring and empowering confident beauty choices anytime, anywhere.”
The AI Beauty Advisor is part of a broader initiative to enhance the omnichannel customer experience holistically and along the entire beauty journey through the use of modern AI technology. Across its digital and physical touchpoints, the DOUGLAS Group is building a connected experience layer that combines AI‑powered search and discovery, expert product recommendations as well as personalized beauty content and offers with digital innovations such as a skin analysis tool to determine individual skin types and a virtual makeup try‑on – delivering a highly personalized shopping experience for each customer.
Integration of beauty profile for personalized shopping advice
The launch of the AI Beauty Advisor is the latest expression of the Group’s strong commitment to innovation. Built on Google Cloud’s advanced AI technology and developed and trained in close collaboration with DOUGLAS Beauty Experts, the chatbot is designed to navigate the extensive DOUGLAS online assortment and deliver expert‑level guidance at scale. By understanding and anticipating individual customer preferences, it creates a more intuitive, enjoyable, and efficient digital shopping experience and complements the Group’s omnichannel platform.
Based on customer feedback and insights, the solution will be continuously enhanced with new features. In the coming months, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) integration is planned. Once logged in, the AI Beauty Advisor will then seamlessly integrate customers’ beauty profiles – including saved product preferences and skin type analysis – to deliver an even more personalized and relevant beauty experience. For example, when asked, “Can you recommend a sunscreen for my skin type?”, “ANNA” provides tailored product recommendations from the wide DOUGLAS assortment, taking into account product attributes such as ingredients, personal preferences, and skin analysis results stored in the customer’s individual beauty profile.
With more than 64 million Beauty Card loyalty program members as of 31 March 2026, the DOUGLAS Group has unique, deep insights into customer behavior and preferences. Combined with DOUGLAS’ best‑in‑class beauty expertise, the AI Beauty Advisor delivers highly personalized beauty advice tailored to individual needs – clearly differentiating it from generic chatbot solutions on the web.
The DOUGLAS Group, with its commercial brands DOUGLAS, NOCIBÉ, Parfumdreams and Niche Beauty, is the number one omnichannel premium beauty destination in Europe. The DOUGLAS Group is inspiring customers to live their own kind of beauty by offering a unique assortment online and in around 1,970 stores. With unparalleled size and access to customers, the DOUGLAS Group is the partner of choice for brands and offers a premium range of selective and exclusive brands as well as own corporate brands. The assortment includes fragrances, color cosmetics, skin care, hair care, accessories as well as beauty services. Strengthening its successful omnichannel positioning while consistently developing superior customer experience is at the heart of the DOUGLAS Group strategy “Let it Bloom”. The winning business model is underpinned by the Group’s omnichannel proposition, leading brands, and data capabilities. In the financial year 2024/25, the DOUGLAS Group generated sales of 4.58 billion euros and employed more than 19,900 people across Europe. The DOUGLAS Group (Douglas AG) is listed at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Maren Peters
Senior Manager Group Communications
Tel: +49 211 16847 6644
Mail: newsroom@douglas.de
