Reflecting Consumer Feedback

For over half a century since Shiseido’s establishment in 1968, we, at the Consumer Communication Center, have sincerely addressed customer opinions and inquiries and have provided information beneficial to our customers. The Communication Center also proactively striving to improve the quality of our support. By 2024, our telephone and chat departments had earned three-star ratings from HDI-Japan^*1 and in addition we also achieved the cosmetics industry's first five-star certification, receiving high acclaim from specialized organizations that evaluate corporate customer service centers.

While promoting human capital development, we are also focused on initiatives that enhance consumer convenience, such as introducing visual IVR and callback systems and enriching our FAQ pages. Furthermore, to ensure the stable operation of our Consumer Communication Center even during emergencies, we introduced an at-home chat support in 2020 and a remote call center system in 2021. This has enabled us to implement BCP measures that allow for consumer support from both home and the office.

Consumer Relations Coordinators (CRCs)^*2 assigned to Japan and our regional headquarters (China・Travel Retail, Asia Pacific, Americas, and EMEA), collaborate to smoothly address purchase-related requests and complaints from overseas visitors in Japan, as well as from Japanese travelers overseas.

In Japan, we collect consumer feedback regarding our products and services in various ways and in a wide range of situations. These include around 90,000 customer Inquiries each year received through our Consumer Communication Center and offices via toll-free telephone lines, email, chat (LINE and browser-based) and written letters. The personal beauty partners working at our retail locations also record about 80,000 records of consumer feedback each year on dedicated tablet devices.
Apart from some affiliates that manage information independently, this information is all managed by a system. By sharing this information with all employees through email and/or the intranet, we use it to create value in our products and services.
In addition, managing the information on a system centrally enables that information to be swiftly reported to officers and related departments making it useful in terms of risk management.

To respond to increasingly diverse customers, we have opened official accounts on X (formerly Twitter) and the Yahoo! Chiebukuro user-driven Q&A site, and launched LINE- and browser-based chat services. This shows our commitment to improving communication with a wide range of customers. We use a LINE- and browser-based chat system in the Customer Support section on the Shiseido website. To respond swiftly to customers, we integrated a manned service of communicators who consult with customers on personal matters with AI Mimi-chan, a chat bot that can answer simple questions 24 hours a day. On X (formerly Twitter), we respond to inquiries, offer thanks for praise, and support consumers with difficulties. In addition, In the Customer Support section, we use a chat bot to respond to questions such as alcohol concentration and flash points during the transportation of cosmetics. Through these many channels, we are striving to improve consumer satisfaction.

We are working to improve our products and services by deeply understanding our situations. To become a company truly trusted by our customers, we also place significant focus on employee training.

We regularly distribute information on customer feedback via our intranet and email. We also offer "Consumer Feedback Listening Sessions," where employees can listen to the voices (via audio) of our customers. We also maintain an archive. By creating opportunities for all employees to directly engage with customer feedback, we aim to enhance their awareness towards customers.