Innovation

Mecca chatbot helps customers shop for Christmas

MECCA has launched a chatbot to make gift-giving easier this holiday season.

Named Miss MECCA, the chatbot is designed to engage millennial customers and provide gift-giving advice in just a few taps.

Users can access the bot through the Facebook Messenger app, where they respond to a series of simple questions about the person the gift is for (mum, sister, best friend, Kris Kringle, boyfriend, dad or brother), the budget and what beauty category best suits the recipient (are they a beauty junkie, skin-care lover, jet-setter or fragrance aficionado).

Miss MECCA then reveals a curated edit of gift suggestions, which users can choose to shop directly online or share with others via Facebook Messenger.

“We pride ourselves on the MECCA in-store service and our ‘Miss MECCA’ bot is an extension of this experience – literally at the fingertips of our customers,” said Jo Horgan, founder of Mecca

Brands, noting that it takes the hassle out of gift-hunting and turns it into an easy, fun experience.

But the chatbot is also a marketing tool and offers users an opportunity to sign up for beauty updates, which will send push notifications whenever there is an offer such as free shipping or deluxe samples on the MECCA website.

This is the latest digital launch for the retailer, which released a sticker app for iMessage in October to celebrate its twentieth anniversary.

MECCA has released new holiday-themed stickers on the app, which allow customers to add MECCA-fied candy canes, Christmas trees and other stickers to their  iMessages and group chats.

‘Miss MECCA’ will be available until late December 2017.