Singapore based hair salons turn to Gamurai for creative tech solutions

03-Mar-2015 - Last updated on 02-Mar-2015 at 16:17 GMT

A need to serve digitally savvy consumers, empower busy staff and connect it all to the business behind the brand is leading companies around the globe to opt for customizable apps for their associates.

VEON @ Hair is the company’s cloud based app and comprises many of the elements that beauty businesses expect. There’s a consumer-facing virtual experience, tools for salon branch managers, and back-end management features too.

Tech start-up and running

Like its clients, Gamurai is based in Singapore. Though the tech company plans to grow globally: “Gamurai chose to host VEON in the Microsoft’s Azure platform for a number of reasons, chief of which concerned the firm’s ability to potentially expand overseas in a rapid fashion,” reported editors of Asia Cloud Forum in an article on enterpriseinnovation.net.

“As a startup, we hope to one day be able to expand regionally and then globally. Prior to signing up with Microsoft BizSpark, we did not have a partner that allowed us to scale locally and globally. With a total of 19 Azure regions open for business, it will allow us to scale rapidly, in terms of volume and geography,” said Woo Sze Ming, Founder of Gamurai.

Simply digital

Digital solutions are the norm now that each brand and service provider is working to meet the nuanced needs of their industry rather than reinvent hardware and software for every new product.

“Developing on Microsoft Azure also reduced the technical limitations we faced when developing our application and helped us go-to-market in a shortened timeframe,” Woo Sze Ming pointed out.

Global competition

When Gamurai does make an international leap, the company will be up against some accomplished digital rivals.

This month Shiseido and IBM put mobile apps on the Beauty Tablet that close to 10,000 Shiseido consultants in Japan use. The apps will facilitate customer service, showcase product improvements and expedite social innovations.

“IBM’s partnership with Shiseido will help maximize and accelerate its mobile strategies to drive greater brand differentiation and higher levels of engagement,” says Phil Buckellew, VP of enterprise mobile at IBM.

IBM’s app, like many of the best, gathers data and provides beauty brands with detailed analytics.

Beauty retail is digital retail

US-based MultimediaPlus is giving beauty brands in the States and Europe the digital tools they need with QuizScore. This stylish app-based solution motivates associates, informs and engages consumers, and puts asset and version control in the hands of the brand.

“This is where retail is headed,” Emily Heintz, VP of business development at MMP told Cosmetics Design. Digital platforms and tech tools should “facilitate associates’ ownership of company and product knowledge.”