Fung Business Intelligence Centre Executive Director Deborah Weinswig Shares Top 15 Technologies Advancing Beauty Industry in New Report

 

For Immediate Release

 

THE BEAUTY REVOLUTION: THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT

 

Fung Business Intelligence Centre Executive Director Deborah Weinswig shares top 15 technologies advancing beauty industry in new report

NEW YORK (May 19, 2015) – Smartphones, apps and highly advanced beauty devices are disrupting how cosmetics and skincare are researched and are, in turn, driving sales to new heights, according to Top 15 Technologies Adopted by Beauty Retail, a new report from Fung Business Intelligence Centre-Global Retail & Technology (FBIC).

Estimated by FBIC as a $480 billion market (some $50 billion of that digital and growing a conservative 20 percent annually), the beauty industry is “surprisingly amenable to digitization,” notes Executive Director Deborah Weinswig in the report.

“We’re at the hallmark of a new age of customization in cosmetics and skincare that will allow previously impossible levels of customization to be available to the average consumer via smartphone,” Weinswig says. “These 15 trends are revolutionizing consumers’ relationships with stores and brands.”

The trends follow four general themes: the convergence of beauty and visual media; the digital

beauty lifestyle; convergence of science, medicine and beauty; and current use of futuristic technology.

Beauty and visual media are converging as the technologies originally developed for displays and video games are being repurposed. The facial mapping technologies used in casinos and law enforcement, and computer graphics tools from gaming are being employed by cosmetics companies to help shoppers imagine and match colors on their own visages. Magic mirror technology helps shoppers try on apparel or makeup, expediting the shopping experience and exposing the shoppers to complementary styles and items in the fitting room, providing a more engaging in-store experience.

Smartphones have created a digital beauty lifestyle, becoming tools to virtually try on cosmetics, share the results in real time via social media, find instructional videos online or schedule beauty services. Subscription models such as Birchbox and at-home devices also are disrupting traditional models of sales and service.

Science, medicine, and beauty are converging as research in biotech, medicine and sports medicine have created opportunities, particularly for anti- aging programs. New applications of genetic testing will allow the creation of individually specific treatments, and stem-cell technology and other applications of tech in beauty such as 3-D printing of cosmetics and on-demand services are a reality today.

“It’s a brave new world for beauty,” Weinswig says. “And we’re just getting started!”

 

The full report is available at http://www.deborahweinswig.com/wp- content/uploads/2015/05/FBICGlobalRetailTechDIGITALBEAUTY REPORTAPR30_2015.pdf. The group’s reports and analyses can be found at www.fbicgroup.com and www.deborahweinswig.com.

 

 

###

 

 

ABOUT FUNG BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE CENTRE

 

Headquartered in Hong Kong, FBIC leverages unique relationships and information networks to track and report on trends and developments in China and other Asian countries. In addition, its New York-based Global Retail & Technology research team follows broader retail and technology trends, specializing in how they intersect and building collaborative knowledge communities around the revolution occurring worldwide at the retail interface.

Since its establishment in 2000, the FBIC (formerly known as the Li & Fung Research Centre) has served as the knowledge bank and think tank for the Fung Group. Through regular research reports and other publications, it makes its market data, impartial analysis and expertise available to businesses, scholars and governments around the world. It also provides advice and

consultancy services to colleagues and business partners of the Fung Group on issues related to doing business in China, ranging from market entry and company structure, to tax, licensing and other regulatory matters.

 

CONTACT:   Debra Hazel

Debra Hazel Communications

718-634-4300 debra@debrahazelcommunications.com

###