On 5G and how beauty lies in the IoT of the beholder
The full-scale implementation of 5G is scheduled to begin in Japan from 2020. It’s being predicted that this new telecommunications standard will bring big changes to people’s lives, businesses, and the shape of society — but what kind of impact will 5G have on the beauty industry? We talked to digitalization and innovation consultant Kentaro Fujimoto about what the future of beauty is looking like.
Kentaro Fujimoto, CEO of consulting firm D4DR Inc. , has been working as a consultant for internet businesses since 1994 when he was an employee at Nomura Research Institute. In 2002 he took the top post at D4DR, working on supporting and surveying companies’ business and marketing strategies and supporting tech-related startups.
When we asked Fujimoto how the beauty industry is likely to change in the 5G era, he had a number of predictions: beauty-related IoT devices will become more convenient; brick-and-mortar (real) stores will increase their value through creating exclusive experiences for customers; all-new fields of business will be explored; the field of manufacturing will see drastic changes. From there we dived into specifics — however, let’s first take a look at…
What is 5G and what will it change?
In general, 5G (5th Generation Cellular Network Technology) is said to be a telecommunications system characterized by its ultra-high capacity, ultra-high-speed, the ability for countless connections, and little delay. We’ve all heard that 5G will make watching videos and VR content uninterrupted and stress-free, but that just scratches the surface of the changes this technology can bring about. One of the largest changes is set to be a remarkable improvement in people’s mobility. For instance, making and editing content within a moving vehicle will become easier than ever before; essentially challenging the idea of production is tied to a location. Diversity in the way people work will also likely see a boost, with remote work or telework becoming more practical.
Fujimoto says that automobile maker Toyota “has already anticipated how the 5G era will change the way we think about mobility and is currently developing new types of products and services.” This new concept is MaaS (Mobility as a Service), which focuses not on selling cars but rather the services that people can use while riding in a car.
Along with this: factories will be able to increase their efficiency through control of cableless production robots; data will be able to be sent to the cloud or server-side to be processed there; even consumer devices (smartphones and computers) will become cheaper as well as simpler. Even just in terms of what we can imagine today the impact that 5G is set to have on society and businesses will be considerable.
The future that 5G can bring to the beauty industry
Fujimoto asserts that the beauty industry will also be largely affected by the 5G era’s waves of change.
“First of all, we’ll see a greater spread of IoT beauty appliances. Currently, IoT devices for the home connect to the internet via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. However, once a full 5G environment is set up and the devices have embedded eSIMs (the next generation SIM standard), they’ll be able to each connect to the internet individually. This means that these IoT devices will become more convenient and, as a result, more accepted by consumers.”
Fujimoto continues: “With the increase in IoT beauty devices, obtaining user-related data will also become rapidly more widespread. Due to always being connected, communication with users will also become easier. With this, beauty product manufacturers will likely find there are less hurdles for entering the service industry. Instead of just the business model of “selling cosmetics”, we’ll likely see these companies offering continuous services, such as sending monthly cartridges for beauty appliances. It will become easier to set up subscription models that personalize more to users.” This concept of BaaS (Beauty as a Service) is likely to be the direction the beauty industry heads in.
On the other hand, Fujimoto also points out that “industries adjacent to the beauty industry, such as salons and treatment clinics, will possibly find themselves competing for head to head with the emerging IoT beauty devices.” Furthermore, as the lines between the beauty field and the healthcare and medical fields become ever-blurrier, this consolidated movement will likely clash in competition with the field of “wellness management”, which is currently fulfilling the overall pursuit-of-happiness demand.
Real, offline stores are also set to change as we know them. “Once 5G networks and IoT devices are established, we may see companies emerge that offer final-mixing of cosmetics in-store. Similarly, it’s also possible we’ll see “raw cosmetics” freshly made without using additives or preservatives be created and sold in stores. This is in line with the recent direction in consumer tastes towards naturalist and organic products. Stores could even offer experiences that are unable to be had in the home using high-quality virtual reality and AR signage. By making the in-store experience richer and adding more value to it, visitors to stores will increase as will companies’ points of contact with customers. LTV (Lifetime Value) will also likely increase. With this, beauty companies will lay even more importance on offline stores.”
Additionally, he mentions that expertise in 5G networks and IoT devices will become indispensable in order to carry out these initiatives, and thus “hardware packages that specialize in the beauty field may represent a new business opportunity”.
Of course, once related laws and the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act get involved, it’s unknown whether these changes will happen so easily. Even so, 5G, with its ultra-high-speed and the ability for countless connections, has the potential to be a strong technological source for bringing about these types of dramatic changes. Fujimoto predicts that this 5G world will likely be realized in about five years’ time. It depends on whether or not we’re thinking five years down the track. As we currently stand at that crossroads, the beauty industry needs to be thinking from different angles and taking on new challenges.
Text: Ching Li Tor
Original text (Japanese): Jonngi HA
