2023.05.24

The New Way to Sell Cosmetics at the Popular Experience-Based Beauty Theme Park "Tierland" for Gen Z & Gen Alpha

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Last November, the experience-based beauty theme park "Tierland" opened, allowing visitors to try the latest cosmetics. Popular among Gen Z and Gen Alpha, it has surpassed 10,000 visitors. However, "Tierland" isn't primarily focused on selling products. Instead, it collects in-store experience data through its app and provides this data to exhibiting manufacturers, a business model now adopted by many, including major companies. We spoke with Kyosuke Nikaido, CEO of Trend Casquette Inc., which operates the shop and service, to learn more about its unique system.

Technology × Retail: Visualizing User Data

The concept of providing retail systems using technology and data to other companies, known as "RaaS (Retail as a Service)," is drawing attention. "Tierland" is also a service based on the RaaS model, offering data from in-store experiences and the app.

"Our business model involves monthly contracts with each manufacturer, providing opportunities for e-commerce referrals and in-store experiences. For instance, until now, major cosmetic brands could only offer customer experiences at department stores. 'Tierland' acts as a middle ground between department stores and drugstores, providing places where customers can 'try' and 'experience' products, and delivering Gen Z and Gen Alpha data gathered there to manufacturers."

The design of "Tierland" is as follows. First, manufacturers exhibit a full lineup of the products they want to sell in the physical store "Tierland." Users make a reservation through the app and visit the store to try samples and participate in experiential events. At the store, the app functions as a research tool, automatically analyzing and reporting user surveys to manufacturers. This entire system is patented by "Tierland."

Thus, manufacturers not only gain contact with users and their products, but also benefit from social media dissemination driven by store visitors, and can use the survey results and behavioral data collected through the app for product development and marketing.

To gather high-quality data, a large sample size is necessary, and "Tierland" successfully attracts a high number of visitors to its store.

"We position the physical store as an 'experience-based beauty theme park,' offering free services such as nail and makeup experiences, and skin diagnostics. Users can experience manufacturer-provided products and share their experiences on social media or complete surveys to receive these free services. This free service system contributes to high visitor attraction, with 35% of app downloads becoming active users."

Experiential Needs Emphasized by D2C Brands & Overseas Manufacturers

Most users of "Tierland" are from the Z and Alpha generations, who collect cosmetic information primarily through social media and often make purchases through e-commerce.

"This generation predominantly relies on TikTok for their information sources and frequently engages in 'oshi-gai,' purchasing recommended products directly from influencers they admire. However, instances of cosmetics not suiting users after a purchase have also increased. Therefore, it is important to place an 'experience' opportunity between the 'cognition and empathy' stage and the 'purchase' process, which can be completed with just a smartphone.