Shiseido APAC ‘revving up’ on digital offerings to combat COVID-19 market conditions

Shiseido cited that KMPG expects 80% of revenue growth to depend on digital offerings and operations by 2022.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, this trend has been accelerated, said Pranay Mehra, VP of digital and eCommerce, Shiseido APAC.

“More customers are shopping online given the current climate and this has evolved the way we maintain our relationships with them while staying true to our philosophy.”​

He added: “Today’s customer is always-on – they decide when to engage with a brand, a decision that is no longer restricted to store operating hours, so what we can do is to empower our customers to make their purchases online, at their convenience.”​

He noted that e-commerce and other digital technologies are a “key touchpoint”​ for consumers without brick-and-mortar outlets and are “absolutely crucial” ​now more than ever.

“Prior to this pandemic, any brand that was not e-commerce-enabled was less relevant to customers and being digital is even more crucial in today’s environment… By revving up digital business strategies, organisations will better position themselves for growth when the pandemic subsides.”​

The company most recently entered a joint business partnership with Singapore-based e-commerce platform Shopee to further strengthen its digital business.

“One of our key focus areas for e-commerce is strengthening partnerships with major e-commerce players in the region to provide value according to our customers’ individual needs,”​ said Mehra.

The partnership will allow the firm to broaden its portfolio of brand such as ANESSA, SENKA, and Tsubaki, on Shopee across all six Southeast Asian markets by 2020, with a focus on Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

Additionally, the firm will expand its offering to Taiwan via Shopee sometime in June this year.

“Leveraging Shopee’s expertise as one of our primary strategic e-commerce partners, we are able to extend our e-commerce presence, enhance our product accessibility, deepen online engagement and ultimately, forge stronger connections with our customers and fellow beauty brand lovers across Southeast Asia.”​

COVID-19 impact on J-beauty

The company also hopes to leverage on the rising J-beauty trend as it expands across Asia.

“[J-beauty] is usually associated with innovative technologies augmented by stellar research, leading to the development of efficient products. J-beauty is more about taking the matter in depth with respect and basing the results on scientific research and logic,” ​said Mehra.

He added that certain aspects of J-beauty may be more appealing to consumers now in the face of COVID-19, such as its concept of deep cleansing.

“Deep cleansing is a very important part of Japanese culture, and this can be translated into today’s unprecedented global pandemic. Social distancing is also encouraging more ‘me-time’ and self-care, and this may also result in consumers becoming more particular about the quality of their personal care products… this fits perfectly with the needs of consumers today.”​