December 4, 2023

Cosmetics Manufacturers Develop New Consumption Opportunities for Foreign Visitors to Japan

With the number of inbound tourists recovering, driven by the weak yen and other factors, cosmetics manufacturers are restarting their efforts to create related consumption.

KOSÉ announced the company's first full-scale hotel amenity brand. Shiseido has begun full-scale development of online counseling before visits to Japan. The goal is to encourage tax-free sales while in Japan and continued purchases after returning to Japan.

KOSÉ will offer seven products, including shampoo, body soap, and cleansing oil, and will be arranged mainly in mid-priced business hotels frequently used by visitors to Japan. Different amenity brands are often used for other products, even within the same hotel. Still, it will work with the hotel to develop the same brand to improve recognition of the company name and brand. Each product will be considered for placement in duty-free stores and local sales overseas.

Shiseido has started a pre-counseling service for foreigners planning to visit Japan. First, online counseling was conducted for Chinese customers, and a beauty salon staff member interviewed them about their skin concerns. The products they like can be picked up and purchased at duty-free airport stores before returning from Japan.

Before the spread of the new coronavirus, many visitors to Japan came to the duty-free counter, causing a situation where satisfactory counseling couldn't be provided, so the new system was introduced to prepare for future increases in demand. Counseling from outside of China is currently handled in a chat format, but in the future, the company will consider switching to a face-to-face online format as it does for China.