Multinational beauty retailer Sephora has launched an app in ChatGPT to allow users to search for cosmetics using the AI’s interface.

The LVMH-owned brand is piloting the app in the United States, and said it will “assist customers in discovering and shopping for the right solutions with curated advice and recommendations.”

Users will be able to find products based on unstructured queries rather than searching for specific brands or types of skincare, it said. Customers will also be able to link their Sephora account – called Beauty Insider – to further personalise the app’s results.

The brand said that ChatGPT apps are “setting new customer behaviours worldwide”, in a vote of confidence for OpenAI’s latest attempt to integrate shopping into its chatbot.

OpenAI moved away from allowing users to buy products directly through ChatGPT’s interface earlier this month and is now focusing on offering this functionality through apps built by individual companies, following low uptake among merchants and consumers.

In future, Sephora said, users will be able to complete purchases directly through the app, though this is not yet possible.

“Beauty clients around the world are increasingly open to AI-powered guidance, as many use technology to discover brands, trends, and routines. By blending our digital retail expertise with new AI tools, we are creating seamless and conversational experiences that are not only efficient but helpful for beauty consumers,” said Nadine Graham, Sephora North America’s general manager of e-commerce.

It was announced early on Friday that Sephora is under investigation by Italian regulators over claims it promotes an unhealthy fixation on skincare among young girls. The country’s competition authority said the brand may be engaged in “unfair commercial practices” linked to the marketing of adult cosmetics – including face masks, serums and anti-ageing creams – to children as young as ten.

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