Bath & Body Works adds new features to mobile app

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Dive brief:

• Continuing to improve its technology offerings, Bath & Body Works has updated its app with additional features to enhance the mobile shopping experience and connect consumers with its loyalty program, according to a press release Friday.
• Shoppers can use the app without signing up, but customers with accounts can now use biometric authentication such as face ID or a fingerprint to access the app.
• Shoppers can also use the app’s enhanced store locator. Loyalty members still have early access to new collections, reward points for free products and birthday gifts.

Diving knowledge:

Bath & Body Works enhanced its mobile app to create a seamless experience and deeper customer engagement. Since presenting its loyalty program and mobile application by 2022, the retailer has achieved more than 37 million active loyalty members. Members of its loyalty program currently account for more than 80% of the retailer’s sales in the United States.

“Our dedication to customers and the experience they have with our brand drives us forward. We work tirelessly to develop moments of truth and service that set us apart and deepen long-lasting relationships with everyone who chooses our amazing products,” said Maurice Cooper, Bath & Body Works chief customer officer, in a statement. “We are We are excited to offer a more exceptional and seamless digital experience, especially through our new app, which will bring the power of fragrance to life for millions of customers around the world.”

Beyond updating its mobile app with new features, the retailer is also experimenting with artificial intelligence to introduce shoppers to its scent assortment. Last month, Bath & Body Works said it was preparing to launch a fragrance search toolcalled Gingham Genius, which will use generative AI to provide personalized scent recommendations.

As Bath & Body Works uses technology tools to attract shoppers, the retailer recently made a significant change in leadership. Last month, the company said Julie Rosen, former president of retail, would no longer hold the positionand his paper had been removed. Rosen was previously responsible for Bath & Body Works store management, store design and international product functions including merchandising, design, planning and allocation.

In its most recent earnings call, the company reported that net sales fell 2.1% year over year to $1.5 billion, while net income was $152 million, up 54% compared to the quarter of last year. The retailer attributed that decline in part to its half-year sales falling “below our expectations,” according to CEO Gina Boswell.