Revolution Beauty teams with CM.com as customer queries get handled by AI during Black Friday

Research published by Revolution Beauty and CM.com shows a record breaking number of customer enquires handled by artificial intelligence across the Black Friday weekend.

During the period, Revolution Beauty’s AI chatbots took care of nearly a quarter of all customer queries end-to-end without the need for an agent handover.

This meant less queries reaching human agents, freeing up time for other essential tasks. Alongside this, the power of channel diversity was on full display with 29% of all customer queries resolved by agents on WhatsApp - up from 4% in the 2024 Black Friday period.

Compared to Black Friday 2024, queries reaching the customer support team were almost 60% lower. Within this environment, AI chatbots, WhatsApp and improved self-service played an important role in resolving routine questions earlier and ensuring agents could prioritise complex cases.

At the same time, Revolution Beauty says that it did not experience the infamous Black Friday close of business backlog with unresolved queries by the end of the weekend falling 95% compared to the previous year.

Since deploying CM.com's Mobile Cloud Service, the company has seen team productivity increase by 50% compared to its previous system. That enabled Revolution Beauty’s support team to tackle the Black Friday rush with a blend of automated assistance and live expertise with the aim of providing the best experience for its customers.

Hodny Benazzi, General Manager at CM.com, says: “The Black Friday weekend is the one of the biggest moments in the retail calendar. This also means it’s the moment when customer service is really put to the test - and brands that aren’t prepared for an influx of queries will always be exposed.”

“Revolution Beauty’s success shows they understand the importance of meeting customers where they are – whether that’s on WhatsApp, online, or other social channels. By blending intelligent AI-powered chatbots with live support, they delivered fast, personalised service at scale on the channels shoppers prefer when it mattered most. This kind of AI assisted customer care isn’t just a nice to have - it’s the future of retail support.”

Steve Griffiths, Head of Digital Development at Revolution Beauty, comments: “It’s been a record breaking weekend for us. We’ve seen huge demand for our Beauty Advent Calendar and Miracle Cream, which has led to a rise in queries around products and deliveries as people try to make the most of deals before they disappear."

"We’ve always prioritised customer service and having AI assisted chatbots working in sync with our team of service agents meant every customer got the help they needed, fast. People have changed how they like to communicate, and as a brand it’s crucial we keep pace - meeting them on the channels they prefer, whether that’s WhatsApp or elsewhere.”

RTIH AI in Retail Awards

RTIH proudly presents the first edition of its AI in Retail Awards, sponsored by 3D Cloud and EdTech Innovation Hub.

This is now open for entries. Deadline for submissions is Friday, 5th December. It’s free to enter and you can do so across multiple categories.

Check out categories and entry forms here.

As we witness a digital transformation revolution across all channels, AI tools are reshaping the omnichannel game, from personalising customer experiences to optimising inventory, uncovering insights into consumer behaviour, and enhancing the human element of retailers' businesses.

With 2025 set to be the year when AI and especially gen AI shake off the ‘heavily hyped’ tag and become embedded in retail business processes, our newly launched awards celebrate global technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world and the resulting benefits for retailers, shoppers and employees.

Our 2025 winners will be those companies who not only recognise the potential of AI, but also make it usable in everyday work - resulting in more efficiency and innovation in all areas.

Winners will be announced at an evening event at The Barbican in Central London on Thursday, 29th January. This will kick off with a drinks reception in the stunning Conservatory, followed by a three course meal, and awards ceremony in the Garden Room.