Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, a prestigious department store chain in Taiwan, has earned widespread acclaim from consumers and received the Retail Asia Awards 2023—often hailed as the “Oscars” of the retail industry. A cornerstone of its success lies in its seamless integration of online and offline channels, delivering a truly consumer-centric omnichannel experience.
beautySTAGE, a cosmetics retail brand operating under Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, focuses on expanding its market penetration. By offering a curated selection of multi-brand, in-store consultants provide personalised recommendations based on individual customer needs, rather than being confined to a single brand. After launching its 24/7 online shopping platform, beautySTAGE has broadened its reach across multiple marketplaces and the establishment of five physical stores throughout Taiwan.
To further enhance the customer experience, beautySTAGE introduced the innovative E-Beauty Consultant service. Powered by Omnichat’s OMO solution, the brand introduced 1-on-1 beauty consultations via the LINE Official Account (LINE OA), seamlessly bridging the gap between online and offline interactions.
The results have been remarkable. Within just one quarter of launching the OMO system, beautySTAGE achieved:
- LINE OA conversion rates 7.5 times higher than the official website.
- 76% binding rate of LINE OA followers to beauty consultants.
- 60% reduction in monthly block rates.
Embrace the OMO strategy: Moving beyond traditional VIP management
To expand its reach, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi strategically expanded beautySTAGE beyond its department store network, integrating additional retail channels. However, this expansion brought operational challenges—beauty consultants lacked digital tools to record customer preferences and past interactions, making it difficult for customers to reconnect with their preferred consultants.
Recognising the need for a cohesive omnichannel experience, Eva Chuang, Vice President of E-Commerce at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, sought a solution that could replicate the high-touch, personalised in-store experience online.
Selecting the ideal OMO partner
When evaluating potential solutions for beautySTAGE, three critical priorities were identified:
- Integrate online and offline member data to create a unified shopping experience.
- Empower beauty consultants and customers with effective digital tools.
- Adopt an intuitive SaaS platform for seamless integration.
“We spent nearly six months evaluating solution providers before selecting Omnichat.Omnichat provided a comprehensive suite of features tailored to our needs, including omnichannel mechanisms that drive traffic between online and offline channels. By leveraging the power of chat commerce platforms, we created an ‘infinite shelf,’ maximising revenue potential.”
——Eva Chuang, Vice President of E-Commerce at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi
E-Beauty consultant: Personalised customer service via LINE OA integration
Leveraging Omnichat’s expertise, beautySTAGE seamlessly integrated its marketing and customer service systems within a week. This rapid deployment transformed the customer experience, providing beauty consultants with tools to track customer interactions and deliver highly personalised product recommendations, addressing the previous challenge of recording valuable customer information.
From customer binding to sales tracking: A triple win scenario
At beautySTAGE’s physical stores, customers can seamlessly bind with their preferred beauty consultant by scanning a QR code via LINE OA. This enables customers to receive expert skincare and make-up advice, ensuring a highly personalised shopping journey.
Consultants, in turn, utilise the Omnichat app to manage their connected customers, categorise preferences using custom tags, and track interactions. Through this platform, they can respond to customer enquiries, provide tailored product recommendations, and share personalised referral links for purchases. Sales generated via these links are directly attributed to the consultant’s performance, aligning online commissions with in-store rewards. This innovative omnichannel strategy creates a win-win-win scenario for customers, the customer service team, and the brand.
The impact of this system was immediate and impressive. Within a single quarter of implementation, the connection rate between consultants and customers reached 71%, doubling the industry average. Enhanced service quality also led to significant improvements:
- LINE OA block rates decreased by 60%, reflecting stronger engagement.
- LINE OA conversion rates were 7.5x higher than those on the official website.
The E-Beauty Consultant feature extends beyond traditional text, image, and video-based support. Consultants can host live video sessions for make-up tutorials, product demonstrations, and shade matching, bringing the in-store beauty experience to the digital sphere.
Following these interactive sessions, personalised shopping links are sent via LINE, streamlining the purchase process and boosting sales performance.
Empower beauty consultants in OMO workflows
The success of OMO implementation lies in equipping front-line staff with the right tools and mindset to embrace this digital transformation. beautySTAGE placed a strong focus on training and engagement initiatives, ensuring consultants could seamlessly transition from traditional face-to-face interactions to showcasing their expertise through LINE OA.
Training & Internal collaboration
To establish a thriving OMO marketing strategy, it was essential to implement structured training programmes, instil a sense of achievement within the team, and foster an ongoing feedback and review process. beautySTAGE developed a comprehensive training framework that not only covered software proficiency but also provided strategic guidance on effectively inviting customers to bind with consultants. Additionally, top-performing consultants and sales coaches were invited to share their experiences, fostering a culture of collaboration and continuous professional development.
Weekly product highlights
To keep consultants engaged and well-informed, the marketing team curated weekly product highlights featuring in-depth product knowledge and promotional insights. These updates served as valuable resources, equipping consultants with fresh talking points and strategic inspiration to enhance their customer outreach efforts.
Personalised mass messaging
Leveraging Omnichat’s broadcast feature, beautySTAGE streamlined VIP customer management, enabling consultants to send personalised messages to multiple bound customers simultaneously. Designed specifically for OMO-driven interactions, this tool seamlessly blends efficiency with customisation, allowing consultants to maintain a personalised approach while maximising their reach.
Shaping a customer-centric retail future with Omnichat
“Within just one quarter, our consultant-to-customer binding rate increased significantly to 71%, surpassing the industry average of 35%. Customers not only look forward to updates and exclusive promotions but also appreciate the thoughtful after-sales care, creating a warm and highly personalised shopping experience,” shared Eva Chuang, Vice President of E-Commerce at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi.
In 2023, beautySTAGE placed a strong emphasis on enhancing binding rates and delivering tailored recommendations, making premium beauty services more accessible and appealing to younger audiences. The vision is ambitious yet well within reach—increasing online sales from 20% in 2023 to 30% by 2025.
At the core of this transformation is Omnichat’s all-in-one omnichannel customer experience platform, which plays a pivotal role in ensuring seamless OMO integration. From pre-implementation consultation to onboarding and continuous support, Omnichat empowers brands like beautySTAGE to build a truly connected retail experience. By fostering a collaborative ecosystem, beautySTAGE continues to drive a triple-win strategy—enhancing experiences for customers, empowering consultants, and strengthening brand loyalty, setting a new benchmark for personalised retail engagement.
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