Optimize Layout
SK-II is undergoing a new transformation.
Recently, in the core business district of Shanghai, the newly upgraded SK-II counter was officially cut in the New World City shopping mall on Nanjing West Road, where retro and modern are intertwined, opening a new chapter for SK-II in the "Magic City". The debut of the new counter not only attracted many onlookers from consumers, but also told the outside world in a more direct way that offline channels and even the Chinese market are still an important position for SK-II.
It is true that the current SK-II is experiencing a lot of doubts in the market, but through an in-depth visit to the upgrade of the new SK-II counter, Qingyan found that this high-end skin care brand, which has been in the market for nearly 40 years with an ace ingredient, still maintains considerable innovation vitality and "wins in China".
Counter upgrades
Continue to deepen the offline layout
"Ten miles of Nanjing Road, a new world", this sentence is a vivid description of the century-old commercial center "New World City Mall" on Nanjing Road in Shanghai. As early as the last century, it was a well-known commercial center in Shanghai; Today, the New World City shopping mall is still a classic commercial landmark on Shanghai's Nanjing Road, bringing together more than 20 international leading beauty brand counters, and is a veritable large-scale "life center" in Shanghai.
Even in Shanghai, where the beauty market is relatively mature and saturated, the massive foot flow and high-end positioning can help brands continue to build deep links with new users. And this is one of the reasons why SK-II counters chose here for upgrades.
In fact, with its superior location and high-quality customer service, SK-II counters in New World City Mall have long been one of the highest sales and customer acquisition counters of SK-II in Shanghai, helping SK-II to build a high-quality and in-depth product experience environment for consumers in the "heartland" of Shanghai. This upgrade is a key step for SK-II to continue to deepen its brand image and marketing strategy.
Qingyan learned at the scene that the counter upgrade not only adjusted the original counter structure, optimized the product display layout, and provided customers with a more convenient and comfortable shopping environment, but also used more colorful counter colors to better and more comprehensively show the ace products. At the same time, SK-II also adjusted the counters to areas with higher foot traffic and easier access to consumers' attention in the first place, improving brand visibility and further increasing the frequency of contact with users and increasing customer acquisition opportunities.
In addition, SK-II has also upgraded the SK-II skin light lens detector in the counter, allowing consumers to get a more complete skin condition report without removing makeup or touching through skincare tendency selection and AI facial recognition technology.
▍New World City shopping mall SK-II counter
It can be said that this upgrade is SK-II's response to the new consumer demand that is currently being iterated, and it also means a new round of SK-II's offline brand strategy adjustment. Qingyan learned from the brand that SK-II is currently laying out a new round of counter renewal plan, continuing to improve the service experience and deepen the offline layout.
As Endy Wang, Head of SK-II Greater China and Vice President of Global Sales, said at the event, "We want to bring the best retail experience and the best products to every consumer. ”
It is worth mentioning that at the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the upgraded counter, Amber Liu Yiyun, a close friend of the SK-II brand, also appeared at the ribbon-cutting scene, and tried SK-II's classic products with many consumers and fans, witnessing the opening of a new chapter for SK-II in Shanghai.
▍SK-II brand friend Amber Liu Yiyun
For SK-II, this upgrade is not only an iteration of retail space, but also a signal that SK-II will continue to focus on the Chinese market for a long time.
Return to "somatosensory"
Half of all business comes from new customers
From the current point of view, the rise of online e-commerce platforms has made many brands focus on the development of online customer groups, even if many online rising brands have begun to gradually deploy offline, but the overall image stores are the mainstay, and the number is not large, most of them are concentrated in first-tier cities.
However, the rise of online e-commerce does not mean the decline of offline channels, especially for established high-end brands such as SK-II, which have deep roots in offline department store channels, offline channels still have an irreplaceable advantageous position.
Qingyan learned from the brand that since SK-II entered China more than 30 years ago, it has been innovating channel operation methods to win consumers by improving online and offline experience, deepening the layout of multiple channels, and innovating channel operations. At present, nearly 50% of SK-II's department store business comes from new customer growth1, and the department store channel has become a strong driving force for SK-II's business growth by continuously enhancing customer loyalty and enhancing customer loyalty.
▍Shanghai New World City
So, where do new customers come from?
Qingyan found that the service experience of the counter is a very important part of it. For example, the SK-II Skin Light Lens Tester (MMS) mentioned above is equipped with two or more instruments in almost all SK-II counters, and all new and returning customers are provided with free skin testing services.
It is understood that the SK-II skin light lens detector uses AI facial recognition technology, and more than 1.2 million skin samples2 are stored in the algorithm library, which are strictly screened from P&G's massive database, accounting for only 19.7% of the total database. At the same time, the instrument also utilizes a color balance calibration algorithm and is equipped with two LED light sources to ensure that the skin color is more natural when the skin is analyzed.
▍Amber刘逸云试用MMS
In addition, the technology also uses contact detection to accurately capture and analyze the skin condition of the whole face at a distance of 40cm in just 5 seconds, which can not only detect the age of the skin, but also recommend a customized skin care plan according to the user's skin condition on a one-to-one basis.
After completing the skin test, SK-II Beauty Consultants will also help users experience SK-II's classic products, including fairy water essence, big red bottle, and small light bulb, and strengthen the offline experience of the products through actual experience, so as to build user trust more deeply. The brand told Qingyan that the SK-II counter upgrade is also committed to allowing users to return from an online digital experience to an intuitive and highly interactive experience.
Left-handed products right-hand service
SK-II还是那个SK-II
The Chinese market is huge, but there is never a shortage of brands, and the decline of a brand will lead to the rise of more new brands, and SK-II has been able to enter China for more than 30 years, through several market cycles, and always maintain the position of the large-scale product fairy water and the ace ingredient PITERA™ in the high-end skin care market, which naturally has its unique advantages.
Take the core ingredient PITERA™ as an example, this ingredient originated from the accidental discovery of a scientist in a sake brewery, an elderly brewer, his face is wrinkled but his hands are delicate and silky, the secret lies in the yeast that he comes into contact with during the sake brewing process, SK-II found one of the yeast from 350 kinds of yeast to specialize, and the classic PITERA™ in the fermentation ingredient came into being, SK-II's core product fairy water is a highly concentrated essence containing 90% PITERA™.
Over the past 40 years, SK-II has maintained the classic formula of fairy water, and has continued to innovate products with PITERA™ as the core, launching a variety of large products including big red bottles and small light bulbs. Last year, SK-II also upgraded the small bulb to comprehensively improve the whitening, blackening, yellowing and antioxidant effects.
Classic ingredients and ace items have helped SK-II maintain a significant market share in the current era of big items. Procter & Gamble also said in its latest earnings call that the overall sales performance in Greater China is picking up month by month. However, in China's skincare market, where new products are popping up, SK-II is still often questioned for its slow product iteration speed and long product launch cycle.
However, it should be noted that brands are always long-termists, and a large single product can help the brand through countless market cycles to prove that it still has long-term value; On the other hand, only by seriously doing research and development, making products with heart, and ensuring that each product can become a trump card in the market, can we help the brand to take the road of long-termism.
It is worth mentioning that Qingyan learned from the brand that SK-II is also adapting to market changes and constantly providing consumers with freshness. In addition to the upgrade of the counter based on offline services, SK-II will also bring new surprises to consumers in the near future.
It can be said that this upgrade of the brand counter is only the beginning of a new journey for SK-II in China. "Rewriting destiny" is the brand concept of SK-II, and it is also the brand's long-term mission and vision. SK-II is also showing its determination to optimize the service experience and deepen its presence in the Chinese market. In the future, it remains to be seen whether SK-II will continue to deliver superior skincare results and service experience to consumers.
Remark:
1. The data comes from the brand side, and the time is from July 2023 to the present.
2. The data comes from P&G's internal data.