‘Going beyond traditional retail’: Shiseido marries technology and art to elevate shopping experience for travellers
Both activations introduced state of the art technology to create a sensory retail experience for the travel retail consumer.
Philippe Lesné, President and CEO of Shiseido Travel Retail said it was important for the division to continue creating these elevated retail experiences for its consumers.
“Consumers are now looking for stories and brands that can represent their mission in a manner that resonates with their individual narratives,” said Lesné.
Sense-sational shopping
The SENSE Beauty Pop-up features augmented reality technology and three ‘engagement’ zones: the Beauty Forest, the Beauty Escape and the Beauty Bar.
The Beauty Forest invites consumers to create their own avatar in the Quantum Human Scanner.
The scanner shoots more than a hundred photos per second and processes it into a video, which can be shared to their social media platforms.
Designed by Shiseido’s senior fragrance design researcher, Tomonori Ueda, The Beauty Escape uses a combination of sound and scent to promote a soothing environment.
According to the company, both the scent and music have been scientifically-backed to promote “feelings of relaxation, stress relief and of new energy”.
Lastly, consumers can learn about Shiseido products through augmented reality at the Beauty Bar.
Using a smartphone, consumers can discover product ingredients, technology and benefits in an interactive way.
Additionally, consumers can receive a detailed skin check with the Handy Skin Sensor by beauty consultants at this checkpoint.
Lesné described the SENSE Beauty Pop-up as a step forward for Shiseido Travel Retail.
“We aim to push boundaries by revolutionising the customer experience through non-traditional retail experiments, and this pop-up embodies that commitment.”
Retail trail-blazers
The new initiatives follow successful activations such as the NARS Lip Gallery, which launched last year.
It included digital elements NARS Digital Lip Wall and the NARS Virtual Lip Trial app. The latter was an augmented reality app that allowed users to play a game and try NARS lip shades digitally.
Shiseido Group reported that its travel retail net sales grew 9.2% year-on-year, driven partly by sales of Shiseido.
To continue this growth momentum, Lesné said developing more digitally-focused activations remained a “core focus area” for the division.
Lesné believes the division’s latest activations were a step forward in helping the brand establish deeper connections with consumers and take them “beyond the realms of traditional retail”.
“[The SENSE Beauty Pop-up and the Shiseido Forest Valley] really pave the way for what can be expected from Shiseido Travel Retail in the future as we look to elevate our consumer engagement and digital storytelling.”
