Since its launch, Layla AI has significantly enhanced customer engagement, achieving 2.5× higher conversion rates than non-AI sessions. Users spend on average 7.4 minutes longer per browsing session and explore 27% more products. The platform shows strong cultural and linguistic alignment, with 79% of interactions occurring in Arabic and 85% of KSA users engaging, supported by Layla AI’s ability to understand all Arabic dialects Beyond customer-facing benefits, Layla AI acts like a business intelligence engine, generating real-time data on evolving preferences and unmet needs, enabling data-driven assortment, pricing, and campaign strategies. 

Nicole Nitschke, the Managing Director at FACES said  "As a personal beauty coach, Layla AI provides guidance and curated recommendations, ensuring every customer feels supported omnichannel. Layla AI embodies our vision of the future of beauty: smarter, more human, and deeply personal. By combining Faces’ customer intimacy with Chalhoub Group’s AI strategy, we are creating experiences that educate, inspire, and empower. This is more than a technological innovation, it’s a new way of building lasting trust and connection with every beauty lover in the Middle East." 

“This project proves that advanced AI innovation can originate from the Middle East at scale,” said Nick Vinckier, VP of Corporate Innovation at Chalhoub Group. “Layla AI marks the start of an exciting roadmap to embed AI across the entire retail value chain.” 

Michael Chalhoub, CEO of Chalhoub Group said “We are proud that FACES is introducing Layla AI as the first Generative AI-powered beauty coach at scale. This is not only a step forward in technology, but also in how we continue to place our customers at the centre of everything we do. Layla reflects our ambition to create seamless omni experiences, bridging in-store warmth with digital convenience, while staying true to our heritage of beauty expertise. It is also a cornerstone of our ambition to shape the future of luxury retail through data and intelligence, enhancing the customer journey while providing new strategic insights to guide brand, product, and merchandising decisions.” 

As a flagship project within Chalhoub Group’s AI Strategy, launched earlier this year, Layla AI marks the beginning of a series of strategic investments in conversational commerce, reshaping the way customers interact with brands while setting new standards for retail innovation. 

“As shopper expectations evolve, we see conversational commerce as a natural next step in creating seamless, personalized omnichannel experiences. With Layla AI already driving an incremental revenue uplift from day one, this milestone underscores our commitment to shaping the future of commerce through innovative AI-powered solutions.” — Jeremy Denisty, Director – AI 
 

Looking ahead, Chalhoub Group plans to expand Layla AI's capabilities to include features like skin diagnostics, virtual try-on, gamification, and omnichannel integration.  

As the region’s leading beauty omni-channel retailer, FACES has launched Layla AI with the customer at heart, acting as a personal beauty coach both online and offline to ensure every customer receives expert advice, curated recommendations, and continuous care across every channel. This initiative is part of FACES’ broader ambition to educate, recruit, and empower beauty customers in the Middle East, growing the category through technology, education, and personalized care, while supporting Chalhoub Group’s Vision 2033 to future-proof retail. 

-ENDS- 

ABOUT FACES: 

FACES Beauty Middle East is the region’s leading beauty omni-retailer, offering the latest in fragrance, skincare, makeup, haircare, and home scents. Part of Chalhoub Group, FACES Beauty Middle East combines expert curation, immersive storytelling, and personalized services to deliver standout beauty experiences across stores and online.  

With over 85 stores in 10 countries, FACES continues to shape the regional beauty landscape through innovation, cultural relevance, and a deep emotional connection with its community. 

ABOUT CHALHOUB GROUP: 

INSPIRE | EXHILARATE | DELIGHT 

For over seven decades, Chalhoub Group has been a partner and creator of luxury experiences in the Middle East. In its pursuit to excel as a hybrid luxury retailer, the Group has curated a portfolio of over 10 owned brands and strengthened its distribution and marketing expertise for over 400 international names across luxury fashion, beauty, jewellery, watches, eyewear, and art de vivre categories. 

Every step at Chalhoub Group is taken to build a future where luxury dreams become reality — bridging cultures and crafting memorable experiences for our consumers. Be it by constantly reinventing itself, committing to innovation, or embracing new technologies, the Group is shaping the future of luxury retail. It delivers seamless omnichannel experiences across more than 950 stores, online platforms, and mobile apps. Driving this innovation journey is The Greenhouse — the Group’s innovation hub, incubator, and accelerator for startups and emerging businesses, regionally and globally. 

Chalhoub Group fosters a people-at-heart culture rooted in diversity, equity, and inclusion, and a workplace catalysed by forward thinking and future-proofing. Today, it brings together over 16,000 talented professionals across eight countries in the Middle East, with a presence in LATAM. Their collective efforts have earned the Group the Great Place to Work® certification in several markets. 

Sustainability is at the core of the Group’s strategy, guided by a clear commitment to people, partners, and the planet. Chalhoub Group is proud to be a member of the United Nations Global Compact, a signatory of the Women’s Empowerment Principles, and to have pledged to reach Net Zero by 2040.