Shiseido Travel Retail General Manager Asia Pacific Kenji Calméjane says that the Clé de Peau Beauté boutique at Beijing Capital International Airport delivers “the excellence of the Japanese and the epitome of luxury and Japanese service”. That finds expression in the uniquely Japanese concept of ‘Omotenashi’ hospitality and service.

Clé de Peau, Japan’s number one prestige beauty brand, is “the jewel of our portfolio”, Calméjane says. “It is our most luxurious brand, and together with all these other luxury brands we are in the right place. We wanted to bring a new concept here for the first time, something we have done with the colours that we have used and with a radiance at the centre. This is the core message of the Clé de Peau brand - bringing radiance. It is very Japanese. We bring the radiance from inside, and hence the beauty.”

The boutique opening reflects the critical importance of the Chinese consumer to Shiseido. China is the beauty house’s number one offshore market and Chinese travellers are core to expanding that position and as a volume channel in their own right.

“We are aery close to our Chinese consumers, who are very savvy, very precise, and we wanted to talk to them in this way [through the boutique concept],” Calméjane says. “Our ambassadress Zhang Ziyi [the famous Chinese model and actress] is also featured as part of the new concept.”

Shiseido’s in-store Professional Beauty Specialists (PBS) are critical to implementing the boutique concept and the sense of ‘omotenashi’, he notes. “This is our way of welcoming our customers in a unique way. It is our DNA, the essence of what Japan can bring to customers,” says Calméjane. “So we are very proud to have the full concept of Clé de Peau here, which is a premiere for this way of presenting the brand in an airport.”

Clé de Peau’s T2 presence is confined entirely through the boutique rather than in the nearby main CDF-Sunrise Duty Free store. “We chose to make it separate and to have this specific concept to really expose the service and our Japanese brand essence at its best,” explains Calméjane.

The elegant, vividly coloured Clé de Peau Beauté boutique offers all the touchstones that are proving critical with today’s consumer – digitalisation, personalisation, experience and engagement.

“We have a space for specialised service and the possibility for consumers to be exposed to the full routine and protocol of the brand,” says Calméjane. “The personalisation is conveyed first through our PBS. While they have all the digital tools to hand, we also keep the experience very intimate.”

Calméjane is delighted about the boutique’s performance to date and its potential. “This will be outstanding,” he says. “It’s actually surprised me a little but the response and interest of the consumers in terms of the experience has been extremely strong, and we have also seen the results in sales. So it’s very encouraging for us.

“It leads us to think about expanding and deepening this boutique experience in the airport. We are very proud and honored to have the support of CDF-Sunrise to bring this experience to the store, to expose the brand in such ways, and we are certainly going to continue and expand further.

“We are learning together. This is really a great step. It’s the whole effect – it’s the space itself, of course, but it’s also especially about our people. Travel within China is in its own way still pretty young… and we intend to bring a lot in terms of a Japanese brand. Omotenashi – this word really makes sense today in this environment, so we are very proud to contribute. We see a bright future.”

THE MOODIE DAVITT REPORT • JUNE 2019