Andrea NagelArtificial intelligence continues to rapidly transform the retail and luxury fashion landscape, according to Forbes, shifting consumer journeys from traditional search to AI-driven product recommendations. In a recent report, Forbes says major retailers such as Walmart and Target are seeing significant traffic from generative AI referrals, prompting brands to invest in generative engine optimization to remain competitive. AI is now a key referral channel, streamlining shopping experiences and enabling personalized luxury fashion through advanced prompt engineering. However, while AI excels at driving initial interest, it has yet to fully close the gap in converting clicks to sales, indicating a critical challenge for retailers in the evolving digital marketplace.
While AI is booming, even some of the world’s richest people are pulling back, on luxury that is. WWD reports that even as luxury brands intensify their focus on wealthy clients, 20% of affluent and high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) intend to spend less on designer fashions over the next 12 months. The percentage of non-purchasers rises to 30% for leather goods, 32% for jewelry and 44% for watches, according to findings gathered in the third quarter of 2025 by research firm Altiant and interpreted by Paris-based luxury consultancy MAD.
In an effort to attract and retain fickle travelers, we are seeing that airlines, banks, and hotels are revamping loyalty programs to offer members exclusive experiences, such as Broadway tours, sports tickets, and Michelin-starred dinners, redeemable with points or miles. This strategy, according to The New York Times, aims to provide access to high-end events and lifestyle perks, positioning travel brands as facilitators of enriched living and exploration. The move reflects a broader trend in retail and hospitality toward experiential value and customer engagement.
CES is on the lips of all CPG execs, with Amorepacific unveiling tech that is garnering it awards. The Korean beauty company’s Skinsight has been recognized as a CES Innovation Award Honoree in the Beauty Tech category, alongside its “AI skin analysis and care solution” developed in collaboration with Samsung Electronics and beauty devices from its makeON brand. Skinsight is a next generation “electronic skin” platform co-developed with a research group from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The platform analyzes real-time skin-aging signals to predict aging and delivers personalized solutions tailored to individual needs. The Straits Times reports that a sensor patch applied to the skin simultaneously measures multiple aging factors influenced by the exposome and lifestyle, with AI technology delivering customized care recommendations. The technology, which can track skin changes across diverse environments, will be featured at the Innovation Awards Showcase at Venetian Expo.
Meanwhile, Business of Fashion is reporting on how Unilever is plotting to make one of its oldest beauty brands, Vaseline, TikTok famous. The product, which was discovered more than 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, may not seem like an obvious target for social media algorithms. Yet the brand’s emergence as a TikTok talking point has placed it at the forefront of an advertising revolution, in which large companies are spending big on content creators and putting fewer resources into promoting products in traditional media. Detecting the product’s new life online, marketers at Unilever have amplified the hacks by asking their own scientists to test them and letting the content creators in on the results.
To read more about these topics, please click the links below.
- AI Revolutionizes Retail Discovery and Luxury Fashion
- What to Watch: Even the World’s Richest People Are Pulling Back on Luxury, Survey Shows
- Travel Loyalty Programs Target Lifestyle Experiences
- Amorepacific Showcases Innovative Technologies at CES 2026
- Inside Unilever’s Plan to Make Vaseline TikTok Famous
