Shiseido Launches Online Beauty Consultation Service Using Sign Language

Shiseido has launched a free online beauty consultation service through its Online Beauty platform for customers with hearing impairments. After a pre-opening period starting in October 2024, the service officially launched on Thursday, November 7. By incorporating methods such as sign language, lip-reading, and chat, the service aims to eliminate the physical and psychological barriers that hearing impaired customers face when receiving beauty counseling, offering a personalized beauty experience.

Simultaneously, as part of the ”Employment Expansion Project” aimed at broadening the scope of employment for people with disabilities, Shiseido is working to create a system in which diverse talents can thrive in beauty-related roles. At the initial stage of this service, two omni Personal Beauty Partners (PBP) who are primarily engaged in digital activities will conduct the consultations as they learn sign language. In parallel, Shiseido is advancing the recruitment of individuals with disabilities who have sign language skills for beauty roles, with plans for PBPs who use sign language on a routine basis to take charge in the future. The company will further develop the service to make it more user-friendly as it accumulates know-how through the consultations.
Shiseido will support everyone's desire to ”be themselves” through the power of beauty under its corporate mission ”BEAUTY INNOVATIONS FOR A BETTER WORLD.”

Counseling scene

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Service Overview

Through interviews with individuals with hearing impairments both inside and outside the company regarding the use of beauty counseling, many commented on there being physical and psychological barriers saying that there were no staff who were able to use sign language making it difficult to easily receive counseling, that writing takes time and is cumbersome, and that it was hard to hear in noisy places, leading many to give up on using the service. To address these issues, a project was launched by those primarily affected within the company, and over approximately 10 months, a service that included handling methods and easily understandable sign language expressions was developed. This service incorporates optimal communication methods tailored to the needs of individuals, providing a personalized beauty experience.

During the approximately one-month pre-opening period, customers expressed positive feedback saying that it was great to be able to receive counseling easily in sign language, that it was wonderful to have a place where people with hearing impairments can go to, and that they have grown to love makeup even more. The average customer satisfaction score from surveys conducted after the launch of the service was 4.9 out of 5 (as of the end of October), indicating that the service is being developed according to customer needs. As the service officially launches, efforts are being made to enhance communication by providing an overview and important notes via chat at the start of the consultation and improve convenience by increasing reservation slots during the popular evening hours. Shiseido will continue to improve the service by incorporating customer feedback.

＜Service Features＞
1. Counseling Provided in the Optimal Communication Style
Counseling is offered in the communication style that customers find most comfortable. Customers can choose from methods such as sign language, lip reading, and chat, allowing them to receive optimal beauty advice tailored to their individual needs without feeling stressed by communication.

2. Online Counseling Available from Any Preferred Location
By utilizing online platforms, customers can receive beauty advice at their convenience, from their home or any preferred location, without worrying about their surroundings.

3. Sign Language Adapted for Clarity
Sign language expressions have been adapted for clarity in online settings. For example, movements that are difficult to understand on screen, such as those moving forward and backward, have been changed to side-to-side movements. Additionally, the counseling process separates explanations using sign language from demonstrations, incorporating visual information such as product displays and illustrations to provide clear and smooth beauty advice.

Beauty Information Dissemination via Sign Language

Omni PBPs specializing in digital activities aim to provide beauty experiences tailored to individual needs, not only through counseling but also through activities on personal social media, live streaming, YouTube, TikTok, and more. Since May 2024, they have been disseminating ”beauty information via sign language” on the following Instagram accounts, making it easy for customers with hearing impairments to access beauty information.

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Reference: Shiseido's Initiatives for People with Disabilities

To realize its corporate mission ”BEAUTY INNOVATIONS FOR A BETTER WORLD,” Shiseido positions Diversity, Equity ＆ Inclusion (DE＆I) as a key management strategy as the company believes that new innovations are born when diverse talents with various values come together and respect each other. Disability is considered one aspect of diversity, and initiatives are being undertaken both internally and externally.

＜Employment of People with Disabilities＞
Approximately 400 employees with various disabilities work without being limited to specific workplaces or job types within the Shiseido Group in Japan, utilizing their individual experiences and strengths. The employment rate of people with disabilities at Shiseido Co., Ltd. is 4.81%, and the employment rate within the Shiseido Group in Japan is 2.99% (as of June 1, 2024). Additionally, Hanatsubaki Factory, a special subsidiary with offices in nine locations nationwide, including Tokyo and Osaka, primarily employs individuals with intellectual disabilities. Consideration for disabilities is based on individual needs, with support tools and facilities tailored to the status of disability and flexible environmental arrangements based on personal requests, enhancing the working environment in both the tangible and intangible aspects within reasonable limits. Employees can also utilize ”disability outpatient leave” for medical treatment, examinations, and rehabilitation related to their disabilities.
Prompted by a proposal at an innovation contest within the Shiseido Group in 2019, the ”Employment Expansion Project” intended to broaden the scope of employment for people with disabilities is being promoted. In 2021, the company established a system and framework that allows employees with visual impairments to work as remote sales representatives, thus working as active sales representatives after being hired. The expansion into beauty roles is positioned as the second phase of this project.

＜Societal Initiatives＞
The company’s major initiative is the ”Guide Makeup” program that started in 2019. This makeup method, conducted both in-person and online, allows individuals with visual impairments to use their fingers as ”guidelines” on their faces to perform skincare and point makeup. Starting in 2024, we have been holding sessions in which the program could be tried out in collaboration with schools for the blind nationwide in support of individuals stepping into society.

Various pioneering initiatives have been undertaken for individuals with visual impairments. In 1984, the development of beauty education materials to support these individuals began, including braille beauty texts, product identification braille and ink labels, and usage amount labels. Shiseido has been running the ”Shiseido Listeners' Cafe” on its website where beauty information can be accessed using screen reading software. In 2022, the site was fully revamped to include even more useful information.
Shiseido has been broadcasting ”subtitled commercials” on television to promote viewing accessibility for individuals with hearing impairments since 2018. This has been gradually expanded, and now all television commercials are subtitled.
The company has also been a member of ”The Valuable 500,” an international initiative that promotes the social advancement of people with disabilities since 2021. Shiseido will continue to advance initiatives for disability inclusion through its core beauty business, including the employment of people with disabilities and the provision of services to customers with disabilities.

＜Internal Initiatives＞
Shiseido will be holding internal events in conjunction with ”Disability Week” aimed at deepening understanding and empathy for people with disabilities In December 2024. Plans include employees with disabilities sharing their experiences, webinars by external experts, and sessions in which people can experience what it is like to have a disability. Simultaneously, an Employee Resource Group (ERG) has been established to allow participation by employees with disabilities and their allies (those who understand and support them).
By providing opportunities for each employee to learn and reflect, Shiseido aims to promote the acquisition of knowledge regarding disabilities and a mutual understanding among employees, fostering an inclusive workplace environment.