In the last few years, beauty AR and AI tech has become increasingly realistic (remember the buzz over the TikTok Bold Glamour filter earlier this year?). But it hasn’t always been that way, particularly in the virtual beauty try-on space.

Wayne Liu, chief growth officer at Perfect Corp, which partners with brands like Benefit, E.l.f., and Mac on virtual try-ons, told Retail Brew people were “suspicious” about how well the tech would work back in 2015.

“In the early days of our company, we did lots of more evangelist-type of work. We tried to educate the customer and try to get them to trust and believe,” Liu said.

• Its tech was making its way through different test markets abroad when Covid completely accelerated it, Liu said, and the tech has since become “more like table stakes” for beauty brands.

While virtual try-on tech is still a developing concept in other categories like apparel, innovators in the beauty space have worked to improve the customer experience to be as close to the real thing as possible, working to match the sheen of a lip gloss or the nail polish on a moving hand to make it an increasingly essential service for beauty brands.

“[In apparel], it’s just one of the tools that you use as part of your merchandising, whereas with beauty, it seems like it has a lot more potential to actually be one of a major part of the online beauty shopping experience,” Laura Kennedy, CBInsights principal analyst, told Retail Brew.

Keep reading here.—EC

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When it comes to lunch, the good news for US restaurants, according to new data from Toast’s quarterly Restaurant Trends Report, is that checks are much bigger on average than before the pandemic. The bad news? There are fewer of them.

First, the good news:

• For Q1, the average transaction for food alone (not counting beverages or tips) was $24, up from $16, an increase of 49%.

Now for the bad lunchtime news:

• Among 18 US cities that Toast analyzed, only one—Kansas City—had more transactions (3%) in Q1 2023 compared to Q1 of 2019.
• The least busy compared to 2019 are New York and Chicago (both down 23%) along with San Francisco and Philadelphia (both down 22%).

The Toast report notes that the hardest-hit cities are “larger commuter metro areas,” where even if the increasing number of people working from home either go to a restaurant or order takeout, they may be doing so in the suburbs where they live.

Reality check: As for why the average check sizes have risen so much, Darren Tristano, CEO and founder of Foodservice Results, said it’s less likely that diners are ordering more food than the prices are higher.

Keep reading here.—AAN

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Lindsey Peters is retail and consumer goods industry lead at Celonis, a software company that works with companies like Kraft Heinz and Campari.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? Really simply put: I work with retail/CPG brands to help them transform their business processes. Celonis’s technology looks for inefficiencies to drive immediate cash impact across every part of a business’s processes; it’s my job to be a day-to-day partner to our retail customers so that our technology continues to address their ever-changing needs.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? Every day is different, but that’s what makes it so fun and engaging.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? One of my favorite projects that I have worked on is creating our Retail and CPG Customer Community. When we started the forum almost a year ago, we only had about 12 customers attend. Now we have more than 40 customers from some of the world's most recognizable brands attending on a bi-monthly basis.

Which emerging retail trend are you most excited about this year, and why? Sustainability. Retailers are really starting to listen to customer demands, and we’re seeing retailers like Lululemon and Free People launch secondhand thrift options or resale programs. Sustainability presents a tough but exciting challenge for businesses; they have a business goal that customers really care about, but they need to meet the customer’s wallet where it is.

Keep reading here.—EC

Today’s top retail reads.

Stealing away: As retailers close urban store locations amid a rise in theft, Giant Food is working to find other alternatives to deter shoplifters. (the Washington Post)

Feeling blue: From Frame to Hugo Boss, brands are increasingly turning to local denim production. (Glossy)

Uncharted waters: Inside Vita Coco’s push to boost household penetration for its coconut water. “We’re still in the real early innings of building this category,” co-founder and executive chairman Mike Kirban said. (Food Dive)

Catch up on the Retail Brew stories you may have missed.

• E-commerce price optimization is key to operating an online store
• Dupes and Jennifer Coolidge helped deliver a strong quarter for E.l.f. Beauty
• Returning online purchases to stores instead of shipping them is on the rise