How AI and Individualization In Customer Engagement Are Transforming The US Retail Landscape: Growth Insights from PATTERN Beauty

On November 7th, I attended the Women in Retail Leadership Circle On the Road event in San Francisco. This event was created to inspire connections and unite women leaders who are driving the future of retail. AI, data, and personalization were the headlining topics at the event.
Attending the Women in Retail Leadership Circle event in San Francisco highlighted just how crucial these trends have become. With AI, data, and personalization at the forefront, the event underscored a growing focus on customer-centric strategies.
During the event, I sat down with Christiane Pendarvis, Co-CEO of PATTERN Beauty, to discuss how personalization, AI, and zero-and-first-party data are fuelling their growth and increasing customer engagement, and driving deeper and more valuable connections with their customers. PATTERN Beauty, founded by Tracee Ellis Ross, aims to help people “embrace the hair they have” by providing haircare products that cater to diverse hair types and regimes. Together, we explored how PATTERN’s customer-centric approach is redefining personalization in the beauty industry, powered by Insider.

The Industry Outlook:

The haircare market is expected to reach $134.3 billion by 2028, according to the latest research from Grand View Research. That’s good news for the industry following a rocky 2020. Now, the hair care market is poised to surge – and driving this headwind is the growing consumer demand for specialized hair care products that cater to specific needs, have safe ingredients, and natural products. 

For the beauty market, making shoppers feel understood and special – pays dividends. A huge 3 out of 4 beauty customers respond well to brands that make personalized recommendations. Consumers are willing to spend more cash for the personalized touch, according to Forrester, who found that 78% of consumers will gladly pay more for a personalized shopping experience.

These trends are reflective of wider macro-trends across retail – that consumers are increasingly willing to be tempted to try new brands that use their data to deliver a personalized experience from the earliest touchpoints. For any retail leader, that means that in 2025, your strategic priorities should definitely include: increasing zero-and-first-party customer data, how to leverage AI to drive better results and higher efficiency, and how to deliver connected omnichannel experiences that feel individualized. 

Product Discovery for the Mobile GenerationOne of the main focuses of our discussion was the growing need for retailers to address and improve the search and product discovery experience for mobile. The traditional ecommerce search experience is simply not built to drive results from mobile devices. PATTERN’s approach to solving this is supported by Insider’s InStory solution, which offers personalized product discovery for the social media generation. Driven by AI-powered recommendations, it combines deep Predictive AI with captivating fullscreen experiences to help mobile users discover the best products for them in the quickest time, in a familiar full-screen, social-media inspired experience. InStory allows users to click on thumbnails that expand into full-screen, immersive stories, highlighting products in a visually appealing format.

Christiane highlighted the importance of engaging mobile users, as more customers browse on their devices. “Traditional search bars and filters fall short on mobile, often leading to high bounce rates and lower conversion. InStory addresses this by offering users an intuitive, full-screen visual experience inspired by social media, allowing for a more interactive and mobile-friendly exploration of PATTERN’s products.”

But InStory goes beyond visual engagement. With AI-driven personalization, PATTERN is able to present a tailored experience to each customer. For example, if a known user has “tightly coiled” hair, InStory curates products specifically suited to their needs. For new users, it highlights trending products to simplify decision-making, ultimately reducing bounce rates and driving first-time conversions. This capability not only enhances product discovery but also supports PATTERN’s mission of providing products that truly resonate with individual customers. This approach not only enhances user engagement but also increases the likelihood of purchase.

Increasing Customer Lifetime Value with Powerful AI Recommendations

Our conversation also touched on the challenge of increasing customer lifetime value (CLTV), an area where many beauty brands see significant opportunities for growth. The beauty industry especially feels this challenge as users typically gravitate towards “hero products” from multiple brands. Convincing consumers to make the switch can be difficult. 

Christiane shared that PATTERN uses Insider’s Predictive AI to recommend complementary products, enhancing the customer’s experience by promoting regimen-based usage. For instance, a user with loose curls might start with shampoo but find added value in complementary products like a curl mousse or styling gel, which Insider’s AI recommends based on the customer’s hair type and past purchases. This approach has proven to drive more value per customer and increase repeat engagement, contributing to both revenue growth and customer satisfaction.

Increasing Productivity and Profitability with Generative AI 

According to McKinsey, Generative AI is set to unlock between $240 billion and $390 billion in economic value for retailers, potentially boosting industry margins by 1.2 to 1.9 percentage points. Gen AI also has the power to enhance productivity by reducing time spent on repetitive software engineering tasks by up to 60%, while propelling incremental sales by up to 5% and improving EBIT margins by 0.2 to 0.4 percentage points.

As we discussed the impact of AI in retail, Christiane detailed how PATTERN is using Insider’s Generative AI capabilities to optimize workflows and customer experience creation to improve efficiency, particularly during high-demand periods like the holiday season. 

Insider’s generative capabilities allow PATTERN’s team to streamline tasks that previously took hours, like customer segmentation and journey creation. With a simple prompt such as “show high-value customers at risk” or “create a journey to re-engage at-risk customers,” PATTERN’s team can now execute omnichannel experiences and personalized customer engagement strategies with remarkable speed. Reducing the manual work and time spent on repetitive or manual tasks has allowed the team to focus on more strategic and creative work, enabling the team to drive better results and revenue, using Insider’s Sirius AI™ as a co-pilot.

This session was a testament to the power of leveraging advanced technology to create personalized, impactful customer experiences that fuel growth. With Insider’s AI solutions, PATTERN Beauty is setting new standards for innovation in the beauty industry by making every customer’s journey unique. We’re excited to continue supporting PATTERN’s vision and to help them—and many other brands—achieve growth through data-driven customer engagement.

I’m deeply grateful to Jennifer DiPasquale, Melissa Campanelli, and the Women in Retail community for fostering this inspiring space—and to Christiane—for being on this impactful journey with us.

If you’re a retailer looking for last-minute strategies to round out your holiday plans, don’t miss our “Peak Holiday Season Power Plays” eBook. In it, six industry leaders share their top tried-and-true marketing tactics to drive sales this season. Happy Holidays!