In this exclusive Q&A, Melis del Rey, Amazon’s GM North America Stores, Health & Beauty, shares how the platform is building immersive experiences — from AI-powered Shopping Guides and virtual try-on tools to real-time trend tracking and Gen Z-focused influencer campaigns.

CEW: How does Amazon Beauty approach innovation to create more engaging experiences for customers?

Melis del Rey: At Amazon Beauty, we’re constantly innovating to make the customer experience more personalized and engaging. We’re particularly excited about how we’re leveraging generative AI and machine learning to elevate the shopping experience. Whether it be through Rufus, Amazon’s generative AI shopping assistant, our AI-powered Shopping Guides for categories like face wash, serums, and moisturizers, or another one of our immersive experiences, we take a programmatic approach to personalization. This allows us to drive discovery by providing recommendations throughout the shopping journey across all our beauty categories. For us, innovation is about making the shopping journey easier, more intuitive, and more inspiring and fun for customers, while also giving brands a meaningful way to connect with their audience.

CEW: How does Amazon Beauty work with brands to develop new technology catered to the individuality of the brand?

MDR: We recognize that every brand has a unique identity and aesthetic. That’s why we collaborate directly with brands to develop technology and experiences that highlight their strengths—whether it’s immersive storytelling, personalized recommendations, or new digital tools that showcase shade ranges or product benefits. For example, when we launched Clinique in March 2024, we collaborated to develop the Clinique Skin Analysis Tool specifically for their Amazon Premium Beauty storefront. We also worked with Clinique to offer a first-of-its-kind Live Chat feature, allowing customers to consult one-on-one with Clinique Ambassadors right within the Amazon store—just like shopping at a Clinique counter. Our goal is to create experiences that feel authentic to the brand while making it easier for customers to discover and shop beauty in a way that resonates with them.

CEW: Amazon has been rapidly expanding its roster of prestige and luxury beauty brands. Most recently, in September, you launched Charlotte Tilbury into the Amazon Premium Beauty U.S. store. What can you share about this collaboration?

MDR: We are so thrilled to welcome Charlotte Tilbury into the Amazon Premium Beauty U.S. store. I have long admired Charlotte’s innovation and digital-first approach to shopping. Both are qualities that align naturally with the heart of our business, which is to provide engaging, customer-focused experiences. Now, millions of customers are able to shop the Charlotte Tilbury products they know and love – including the viral Pillow Talk collection to the beloved Magic Cream – with the value, selection, and convenience they’ve come to expect from Amazon. By making it easier for customers to shop and receive products fast, we’re excited that we can introduce Charlotte Tilbury’s iconic makeup, skincare, and fragrances to even more beauty lovers.

CEW: As part of the collaboration with Charlotte Tilbury, Amazon Beauty debuted new technology that is featured in the brand’s storefront, including Shop the Look and Find My Shade. Can you tell us more about these latest innovations? 

MDR: In line with our vision to develop technology that aligns with each individual brand, I’m particularly excited about the two new innovations we have created for the Charlotte Tilbury storefront. This is a brand known for their iconic makeup tutorials, so first, we have the interactive Shop the Look videos that allow Amazon customers to quickly and easily shop every product featured with direct links to the corresponding product page. We also launched Find My Shade, a new virtual try-on tool that is designed for customers to find their perfect shade of Charlotte Tilbury foundation and concealers. Being able to build these types of immersive tools for brands, while also meeting the unique needs of customers is what really drives us at Amazon Beauty.

CEW: Beauty trends move quickly – from viral products to seasonal offerings. How is Amazon keeping pace with what customers are talking about and seeking in real time?

MDR: Amazon Beauty, and the beauty industry in general, is a fast-paced business. We are well-aware of the challenge of discovery and are energized by inventing new ways that we can surface products to interested customers. We know customers leverage Amazon tentpole events as a way to discover and try new products. For example, during an event like Prime Day, we can see growth in total spend from customers buying their first-ever purchase in Beauty, meaning that these deals are attracting customers to explore the whole of the Beauty store. Along the same lines, beauty-specific category events, including our Holiday and Summer Beauty Events, are another eventing strategy that is serving us well and keep customers buzzing about trending products. Our gift sets are another great tool for driving discovery. We’re intentional about having strong exclusive offerings around popular seasonal holidays and gifting time periods to excite customers with new products that they’ve been spotting across social media.

CEW: One of the biggest trends right now is K-Beauty, which has become one of the most influential categories in beauty today. How is Amazon working with K-Beauty brands and approaching the growing interest in this space?

MDR: K-Beauty is one of the categories that I’m most excited about! We are seeing incredible growth in the category. I recently got to visit Seoul, Korea to host an Amazon Beauty Summit which allowed us to engage with thousands of exciting Korean brands and meet firsthand with inspiring brand founders. Our sales growth is three times faster than our average beauty category and K-Beauty searches already account for 20% of all customer beauty searches on Amazon. I’m proud to say that there are more than 1,200 K-Beauty brands currently available in the Amazon U.S. store and we look to grow that even further. To meet the demands of the category, there is no better time than now to launch a new, dedicated K-Beauty storefront on Amazon Beauty – which I’m thrilled is now live this month with over 200 new products and more than 60 exclusive-to-Amazon products. The storefront is designed with K-Beauty lovers in mind and offers an amplified experience with shoppable features, including a new Trend Spotlight, allowing customers to explore all Korean beauty brands have to offer.

CEW: What are some consumer behaviors or insights that you’re closely following and would like to address within the Amazon Beauty store?

MDR: I’m keeping a close eye on how growing demographics, specifically Gen Z and male customers, are engaging with beauty and personal care. To create these personalized unique experiences, we need to be looking at how customers are shopping. For example, we know that Gen Z discovers products primarily through social media – especially TikTok and YouTube – so we’re focusing significantly in that area. One way we do this is through the Amazon Influencer Program, which is one of the world’s largest affiliate programs. We collaborate with a select group of beauty creators with a high Gen Z following, allowing us to meet those customers where they are. We’re also closely following the rise in premium men’s grooming products, particularly among younger customers. There is a big opportunity there so I’m excited by how we can grow it even further.

CEW: Looking ahead, what can customers expect to see from Amazon Beauty in the future?

MDR: We remain focused on making Amazon the most-trusted beauty destination by inspiring customers through unique shopping experiences across a wide selection of premium and everyday products. We’re constantly elevating our shopping experience through innovations for our immersive brand stores and investing in AI-powered personalization to better understand and serve our diverse customers’ shopping journeys. You can expect to see more exciting brand launches, as we continue expanding our selection across all beauty categories – from well-known beloved brands to emerging, indie, and niche brands. Ultimately, we want to continue making it easy for customers to shop the products that help them look and feel like their most confident self.