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One year ago, retail conglomerate Majid Al Futtaim was proud to bring Shiseido, the 150-year-old revolutionary beauty leader, to the UAE with the opening of its only store outside the Asia region in Mall of the Emirates. The partnership marked a significant milestone for Shiseido’s expansion plans and Majid Al Futtaim’s debut into the beauty segment.

The Shiseido store launch followed a successful six-month e-commerce partnership which saw a 38% monthly average growth. Following an incredibly successful year, which saw a monthly average growth of 66%, Majid Al Futtaim opened the second store for Shiseido in the UAE in Dubai Mall, in May 2024.

In conversation with IMAGES RetailME, Romain Carrega – Prestige Director, Shiseido EMEA shared the tech-driven growth story of the brand in the region.

Tell us a little about the tech that you have brought to the customer. Is it proprietary? How does it stand unique compared to other beauty tech solutions available today?

Yes, the Shiseido Skin Visualizer™ is a skin analysis device that has been developed in-house, fuelled by the vast amount of data on skin acquired by our Global Innovation Center. The image capture and processing software is also unique, designed to help bring beauty out from the skin’s foundation rather than merely analysing skin concerns on the surface.

The Shiseido Skin Visualizer™ is the latest consumer-facing technology advancement from Shiseido. It enables the measurement of skin conditions simply and quickly, with no need to remove makeup and no physical contact. Using two unique cameras, it captures the outer and inner condition of your skin, allowing you to see the skin’s beauty circulation based on measurements at the surface and from various angles – areas that are normally invisible.

Does tech coexist with beauty and skin care? Especially since skin care is a personalised approach and often rests on a touch and feel experience.

The skin diagnosis technology is a valuable tool to maximise the benefits of your skincare. It allows for better identification of skin concerns that might not be visible to the naked eye and reinforces personalisation of skincare routine for individual needs.

Since you launched the tech, how have consumers responded to it?

The Shiseido Skin Visualizer™ was first introduced in our flagship boutique in Dubai Mall and received very positive feedback from consumers who are eager to know more about their skin condition� We now plan to incorporate this innovative technology in all our Shiseido boutiques across the MENA region, as we see strong interest in this type of service in the region.

When it comes to MENA, did you tweak or tailor-make the tech to make it better suited for the region?

The MENA region is the perfect area for these types of tools due to the wide variety of skin types and tones. This is why MENA was the first place for Shiseido EMEA to introduce the Skin Visualizer™. We felt it was the perfect tool to address the strong diversity of the region and offer the best possible skincare advice to everyone.

Does helping your customers understand the depth of their skin type, condition and other details lead to customer acquisition and retention?

Having an in-depth skin diagnosis is a strong traffic driver to our Shiseido stores. This is a service that we offer free of charge, and consumers are eager to know more about their skin. Our Shiseido beauty consultant can then introduce the relevant offer from our wide skincare range to address the concerns identified by the Shiseido Skin Visualizer™. This ensures better skin results, higher consumer satisfaction and reinforces consumer loyalty.

Do you save the customer’s skin details and retain the data for a personalised approach each time they walk into any store?

This is an additional function that we plan to deploy very soon in the MENA region.

Would you like to share any other soon-to-release tech-led innovation?

In Japan, Shiseido has launched a pilot programme, the Beauty DNA Program, that proposes optimal care using a DNA testing method based on a unique algorithm developed through a fusion of dermatological research and artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

In the Beauty DNA Program, a personal beauty partner with expertise in beauty provides not only cosmetic care but also comprehensive advice in areas including diet, sleep and exercise based on DNA test results. These results include an individual’s natural skin characteristics, such as their propensity to develop wrinkles and blemishes or their ability to regulate various vitamins in their bloodstream.

A few months ago, Shiseido exhibited for the first time at CES 2024, the world’s largest technology trade show in Las Vegas. At the event, our researchers introduced a skincare app called “Beauty AR Navigation” that uses AI and a tool that can predict future skin conditions of users just by taking a photo of their nose with a smartphone. This enables preventive care recommendations before skin problems appear and offers more personalised services, such as suitable massage methods and care from within the body.

Looking ahead, Shiseido is committed to further advancing our technological capabilities to create even more personalised and interactive customer experiences. This continued commitment to technological advancement not only enhances the efficacy of our products but also aligns with our mission of achieving beauty innovations for a better world, driving sustainability and enriching lives globally.