Change that’s more than skin deep

Finding beauty in every beholder

Shiseido, Asia's top skincare and beauty company, embarked on a journey to transform into a personal beauty and wellness company by 2030— and become the world’s number-one beauty brand. The initiative aims to create personalized, healthy experiences for every customer.

Shiseido believes that technology can help build deep, personal relationships with long-term, loyal customers. By leveraging AI, data analysis, automation, service design, and digital marketing, Shiseido seeks to match and offer the right products and content to the right consumers through the right channels at the right time.

Shiseido and Accenture formed a strategic partnership and started a joint venture called Shiseido Interactive Beauty to accelerate their digital transformation.

Reinventing beauty through technology

To start, the team needed to learn more about Shiseido’s customers. With 9,000 Personal Beauty Partners (PBPs) in Japan alone, integrating hands-on retail interaction with the online shopping experience would be challenging.  

The first step was to use customers’ profile data to deliver optimized content through social media and other channels. This approach proved successful, as evidenced by the Beauty Key app winning the 2023 Good Design Award, the internationally renowned Red Dot Design Award 2024 and the iF Design Award 2024.

Shiseido developed online seminars, web counseling, omnichannel beauty consultations, and used social channels to drive customers to department stores to try new simulation and AR-based product-advice technologies.

The transformation focused on four key areas: data-driven CRM enhancement to streamline marketing investments;  boosting e-commerce operations;  standardizing business processes by advanced technologies and talent development to provide critical employee digital and IT training.

Change that glows with pride

The path to creating long-term, loyal Shiseido customers is proving successful—purchases by repeat customers have increased in Japan, and sales through the e-commerce channel are growing. The foundation for a new marketing model is now in place.

IT transformation contributes to value creation by improving inventory management and forecasting accuracy, as well as reducing IT costs to help achieve Shiseido's operating income targets.

But changes are most visible among Shiseido’s employees, with more than 250 people completing digital skills assessment and training through the talent development program.

These changes support Shiseido's shift to a digital business model and its aim to become a personal beauty and wellness company.

The elevated experience that customers will enjoy into the future will touch every surface-level interaction, but the real beauty of Shiseido’s transformation and innovation has come from within.

_{The titles of all executives quoted in this case study were accurate as of the time of publication.}