Lush partners with Google Cloud as it brings AI from Lens mobile app to cosmetics retailer's in-store tills

Lush has announced a collaboration with Google Cloud.

Previously, its staff had to memorise hundreds of products to manually enter them at the till. This led to slower transactions and long lines, especially during busy seasons.

To solve this, Lush decided to bring the AI from its Lens app feature, which lets customers scan products with their phones, directly to its in-store tills.

Using Google Cloud Storage to host a library of over half a million product images and built with Gemini via Google Cloud’s Vertex AI platform, to train its recognition model, Lush tills can now instantly identify any unpackaged product held up to the camera. What was once a manual lookup is now a split second scan, those involved claim..

According to Lush staff, during the Christmas peak in Glasgow queue times dramatically reduced from out-the-door to around just three minutes thanks to Lush Lens on the tills.

By creating a more efficient and digital first process, Lush says it has: saved 440,000 litres of water by reducing the need for in-store product demonstrations; significantly shortened onboarding time for new employees, making the workplace more inclusive; Improved billing accuracy and inventory management through precise, AI driven identification.

RTIH AI in Retail Awards

RTIH, organiser of the industry leading RTIH Innovation Awards, proudly brings you the first edition of the RTIH AI in Retail Awards, which is now open for entries. 

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 Wednesday, 3rd September.