Hyundai Department Store offers high-tech make-up

Hyundai Department Store’s online mall has launched an augmented reality (AR) service so its customers can virtually try on make-up products.

It covers more than 20 products from eight beauty brands, including Benefit, Estee Lauder and Shu Uemura. Using an AR image of their face, customers can try on different colour variations. Hyundai says it plans to expand the number of brands to 20.

“With the virtual make-up service, customers can simply choose items through our app,” says the retailer.

On its website or app, cosmetics products offering the virtual service appear with a camera sticker on the product page. One click leads the user to the Makeup Plus app, which uses a live video feed to enable customers to see how the product would look on their face from different angles.

The Makeup Plus virtual make-up app has been downloaded more than 200 million times since its launch in 2015. In Korea alone, the app is used by 500,000 people each month. It was developed by Chinese tech company Meitu.

“Customers of online shopping malls want fun services and products rather than making a purchase 100 to 200 won cheaper,” says Hyundai Department Store’s e-commerce executive Lee Hee-jun. “We plan to use thehyundai.com to create new shopping experiences that combine offline retail and IT.”