Dive Brief:

• Ralph Lauren has introduced an artificial intelligence (AI) conversational shopping assistant called Ask Ralph to its mobile app, according to a press release. 
• Ask Ralph is powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI and provides style inspiration by serving consumers shoppable versions of complete outfits, personalized from prompts. Users can interact with the tool like they would with a stylist in a physical store through conversational queries and clarifying questions.
• The tool is now available for Ralph Lauren app users in the U.S. on Apple and Android devices. Ask Ralph represents the latest example of how the fashion industry is adopting AI to try and improve the customer experience.

Dive Insight: 

Ralph Lauren is attempting to streamline and better personalize mobile shopping with Ask Ralph, a new AI-powered assistant. The tool is designed to recreate the feeling of working with an in-person stylist, allowing users to ask questions like “What should I wear to a concert?” to generate complete looks pulled from across available inventory within the men’s and women’s Polo Ralph Lauren brand. The technology is powered by Azure OpenAI, continuing a decades-long partnership between Microsoft and Ralph Lauren.

Those who use Ask Ralph can ask clarifying questions and refine recommendations to better align with their fashion sense. Users can either add individual elements of a look to shopping carts or purchase the head-to-toe outfit. As with most AI, Ask Ralph will develop and become more informed the more users engage with it. 

Ralph Lauren is positioning Ask Ralph as part of a company tradition of integrating emergent technology into consumer experiences. Twenty-five years ago, Ralph Lauren became one of the first fashion labels to launch an e-commerce platform. The brand has also adopted interactive and virtual shopping technology, holograms and CGI animations. Beyond consumer-facing experiences, the company is investing in AI to optimize operations, including predictive inventory management and product demand forecasting.

Ralph Lauren has been active in the marketing space lately, recently releasing an animated short film last month featuring its Polo Bear mascot. “The Polo Bear Chronicles: Operation Black Tie” positioned the preppy bear as a James Bond-like spy working to recover stolen art with the help of a pigeon sidekick.

Ask Ralph follows similar moves by other fashion brands and retailers that are leveraging AI. For example, Nordstrom last year integrated a generative AI feature that made product recommendations based on a user’s interactions with its app.