Digital Dive: Top stories on digital developments making waves in the APAC beauty industry

1 – Online opportunity: Kao aiming to strengthen ‘super prestige brand’ SENSAI in key markets

Kao Corporation is working to reinforce the online presence of its high-end beauty brand​ SENSAI in key markets such as Japan, China and Europe, in order to strengthen its position in the prestige skin care market.

The crown jewel in Kao’s luxury portfolio, SENSAI was launched in Europe in 1983 and is best known for its signature ingredient, Koishimaru silk.

In order to grow SENSAI as its international flagship brand, Kao introduced the brand into Asia from 2019, starting first in Japan before expanding into China in 2020.

Souichi Yamaguchi, vice president of SENSAI, expressed the brand’s strength and potential in the market today, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

2 – Top performers: High-end skin care brands domination expected to continue post-pandemic – Lazada

Lazada expects demand for luxury skin care brands such as Estée Lauder, SK-II, and Sulwhasoo​ to continue on an upward trend, even as the COVID-19 pandemic eases.

Lazada is an e-commerce platform headquartered in Singapore. It is the South East Asian flagship platform of the Alibaba Group and operates in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Following the COVID-19 outbreak, the platform saw a surge in demand as customers and sellers turned to online sales channels amid various offline disruptions.

According to Lazada, sales of products in the beauty category more than doubled year-on-year in the first quarter alone.

3 – Custom craze: Amorepacific introduces four more bespoke services as it banks on personalised beauty demand

From cushion foundations to bath bombs, K-beauty giant Amorepacific has launched a slew of bespoke beauty initiatives​ in the past few months as expects demand for personalised cosmetics to rise.

Within the past couple of months, the South Korean cosmetics conglomerate has launched four new personalised beauty services.

In March, the firm extended IOPE’s Lab Tailored 3D Mask and Serum service online and added virtual one-on-one skin consultations. This service was previously only available at the brand’s Myeongdong store.

The following month, it launched Base Picker, a customised foundation service available in-store and online.

4 – Ubiquitous Beauty Tech: Perfect Corp teams up with LUMINESS

The beauty tech company best known for its 3D AR tech and virtual cosmetics, hair colour, and skin care try-on services has partnered with the airbrush cosmetics brand​ LUMINESS.

LUMINESS and Perfect Corp. are both recognized as leaders in their industries,” acknowledges Sean Mehta, President and CEO of LUMINESS in today’s remarks to the press.

“The result of this collaboration,” ​he says, “is an experience that transcends both in-store and traditional online shopping for all ages. Partnering with Perfect Corp, LUMINESS advances the e-commerce experience for our customers, as we have done for more than 25 years,”​ adds Mehta.

In partnership with Perfect Corp, LUMINESS consumers can now use 3 digital tools to help them find products that meet their needs and expectations: Shade Finder, Virtual Try-On, and Beauty Advisor 1-on-1.

5 – Tools + topicals is where the ‘real innovation lies’ in beauty - designer

Combining beauty tools with topicals for enhanced efficacy and improved usability​ is a gap in the market with plenty of promise that brands haven’t quite found yet, says Jo Barnard, founder and creative director of Morrama.

In CosmeticsDesign-Europe’s eighth Beauty 4.0 Podcast – a digital series looking at how technology and innovation will shape beauty’s future – we catch up with Jo Barnard, founder and creative director of UK industrial design agency Morrama.

In this 30-minute podcast, Barnard talks about the increased interest in beauty tools since the onset of COVID-19 and the level of opportunity available for brands to edge into this space – concepts she believes haven’t quite been mastered yet in terms of pricing, usability and design.

The beauty tool space today, she said, had products on “two ends of the spectrum” – highly smart and precise tools like Opté that had a price tag to match and very simple offerings like the Tangle Teezer that were accessible in price terms yet still hugely effective.