KOSÉ

Continuing to Refine Quality

Since its foundation, KOSÉ has thoroughly upheld quality control, from procurement of raw materials to production, to make the best quality cosmetic products. In the KOSÉ Quality Policy established in 2010, a sentence “Customer satisfaction is our priority” was placed at the core of all operations, allowing us to continuously pursue quality in a wider and deeper sense.

Quality Assurance Initiatives for New Product Development with Priority on Safety and Reliability

The cosmetic products that come into direct contact with the hair and skin are used in many ways depending on the environment and the individual customer’s preferences.To ensure that customers can use our products in any situation without worry, safety is kept at the highest priority in the development of new products. Toward this purpose, we refer to all sorts of quality standards in addition to our own safety standards. In every step of production from the raw materials stage to packaging, our Quality Assurance and Product Development departments repeatedly conduct assessment and validation of products. Additionally, we enforce a rigorous test on final products that anticipates the customer’s usage situation, ensuring their safety for use before sending them out into the market.

Quality assurance in the development process of new products sold by the KOSÉ Group

Our Policy on Assuring Safety of Cosmetics

The quality demanded in cosmetic products often changes due to customer needs, advancements in science and technology, market factors, social environment, and so forth. The KOSÉ Group, in an attempt to anticipate such changes and realize this product quality, participates proactively in cosmetics-related industry associations (such as the Japan Cosmetic Industry Association) and the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) Technical Committee for cosmetics, as well as in health labor science research into developing new testing procedures for safety assessment.

Furthermore, KOSÉ understands that the abolition of animal testing is a necessity in global society and, hoping for its swift implementation on a worldwide scale, has been deeply involved in the development of alternatives to animal testing since the 1990s. Along with continuous support of the Japanese Society for Alternatives to Animal Experiments, KOSÉ endeavors by participation in the cooperative efforts among industry, academe, and government, to spread and develop these alternative methods.

For more information on safety assurance (R&D)

Production System for High-Quality Cosmetics

A production department strives to deliver the best quality, upholding the founder’s belief that “for the one product that is taken into the customer’s hands, earn trust by providing the highest quality.”
In the 1970s, we were quick to introduce quality control (QC) at our production sites, and in 1980 we became the first company in the cosmetics industry to receive the Deming Prize, one of the world’s most renowned prizes for total quality management. In 2020, all our production departments acquired ISO 9001 certification, the international standard for quality management systems. To further globalize our quality assurance system, in 2001 we also obtained ISO 22716 certification, the global standard for good manufacturing practices (GMP) in cosmetics, for all the KOSÉ Group’s factories. Having both these international standards allows us to maintain superior levels of manufacturing and quality control.

KOSÉ Group List of Production Department ISO Certifications

07.2023

ISO 9001: International standard for quality management systems with the purpose of improving the quality of “products and services” provided by companies and organizations.

ISO 22716: International standard for quality and safety in cosmetics manufacturing.

ISO 14001: International standard for environmental management systems designed to improve a company’s environmental performance while protecting the environment.

Organizational Structure to Swiftly and Earnestly Respond to Customer Feedback

KOSÉ has established a tight-knit cooperative network related to quality assurance by installing a Customer Service Center in our Quality Assurance Department and strives to provide rapid and sincere support to our customers
Customer requests and reports are filed as valuable information into the MIRAI Kizuna System*. These assets are shared speedily within the Company to improve quality and service, by which we aim to gain further customer satisfaction and trust.
Furthermore, we at the KOSÉ Group believe that our relationship with customers begins from the moment we manufacture our products. For this reason, cosmetic products of the same type manufactured in the same period are stored together and constantly checked for product safety, while steps are continually taken to guarantee their quality.

*Customer feedback in this system is used to improve KOSÉ products and create a better future.

KOSÉ Group – Organizational Structure for Quality Assurance

Response to Unforeseen Incidents

In the event that an accident or unexpected trouble causes quality issues and results in any product liability incident, information regarding the incident is automatically gathered from all departments and reported to the Quality Assurance Department. The Quality Assurance Department then defines the severity of the incident in terms of product liability, hazards to health, and potential expansion of the damage. Serious quality issues are immediately reported to the Emergency Counterplan Committee, and appropriate measures shall be taken on a corporate-wide level, beginning from top management, in response to the incident.

Quality Assurance Education and Training

Our Quality Assurance Department has been conducting quality assurance education and training mainly for the Development Department, but in FY2025 it held a quality assurance seminar for wider audiences, everyone from new employees to executives.

At the seminar for new employees, we gave lectures on basic knowledge of pharmaceutical affairs that should be acquired as a member of KOSÉ, as well as the attitude to provide ”safe and secure products” to society while maintaining quality and safety, and the importance of listening sincerely to customers’ feedbacks.

Meanwhile, the seminar for employees and executives, including those of affiliated companies, focused on the basic understanding of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law, which is necessary to execute day-to-day business operations, as well as on re-fostering awareness of the need to ensure product quality and safety.
We will continue to work to improve quality literacy through ongoing education throughout the company so that we can deliver quality products to each and every customer.

Meeting and Exceeding Customer Expectations

Beauty Consultants That Draw Out Your “One-of -a-Kind Beauty”

As customers have their specific own worries and distinct visions about beauty, our beauty consultants work closely with customers to provide the best skincare, makeup, and beauty solutions to draw out yet unnoticed aspects of an individual’s beauty.
We offer not only in-store counseling service, but also online service where you can receive our counseling service from your home at any time and place.
With our activity policy of “meeting and exceeding customer expectations,” our beauty consultants are committed to bringing out the “One-of-a-Kind Beauty” and bringing color and radiance to their hearts through the accumulation of all kinds of wisdom related to beauty.

Getting Close to Customers – Customer Service Center -

Customer Service Center

The KOSÉ Customer Service Center aspires to be "Your Lifelong Beauty Partner", enriching each and every customer’s life through beauty, and aims to contribute to business operations from the customer's perspective. We strive to respond sincerely to customer inquiries, opinions, and suggestions based on the principles of "attentive listening," "empathy," "promptness," and "trust." We continuously improve our responsiveness through training programs and customer satisfaction surveys. We also publish customer inquiries on our FAQ website to provide helpful resources to customers. In order to improve customer satisfaction through faster responses, we are internally running the “Customer Service Center Knowledge (a repository of information on products, advertising, quality, safety, etc.).” This enterprise-wide knowledge base can be utilized at storefronts to respond to customers and retailers.

Furthermore, at KOSÉ, we define mutually beneficial relationships with all stakeholders as the “KOSÉ Beauty Partnership.” Based on this philosophy, the Customer Service Center conducts activities to enhance engagement with customers, aiming to contribute to customers, retailers, and employees, while also collaborating with government agencies and competitors.

＜Activities to enhance customer touchpoints＞

① X (formerly Twitter)
“KOSÉ Customer Service Center Official Account“

In addition to phone and email, we have launched an official account as a new point of contact with customers.In FY2024, we actively provided "Active Support" to propose solutions to customer issues and published "Regular Posts" tailored to customer issues and trends. We also ran a giveaway campaign to increase our followers.

Results in FY 2024:

Number of followers: 10,583 (152.3% YoY)
Number of active support cases: 222
Max. number of regular post views: 140,000

② LINE Official Account and
“AI Kikurun” Chatbot

We have introduced and enhanced a chatbot system to facilitate the handling of inquiries from customers and retailers. We expanded the range from specific brands to all brands, and conducted continual PR activities.

Results in FY 2024:

Number of LINE friends: 6,814 (207.2% YoY)
Operator-assisted chats decreased by 70%, allowing customers to more effectively resolve their concerns.

AI Kikurun

What is “AI Kikurun”?
Launched in 2024, “AI-Kikurun” is KOSÉ Customer Service Center’s official mascot. The design embodies KOSÉ's key guiding principle of "3G (Global, Gender, Generation)," using the company's iconic blue and corporate flower, the cattleya, as motifs. The name was chosen with to reflect its purpose as "an AI-powered chatbot that listens to customers while empathizing with their feelings and helps them solve their problems."

＜Activities to improve the quality of products and services provided to customers＞

The Customer Service Center has introduced a "Voice of the Customer Search System" to make more effective use of customer feedback. This has created an environment in which relevant departments such as Planning, Development, Research, and Manufacturing can share customer feedback in real time. We have also begun distributing the “Customer Experience Report (Weekly Report on Customer Feedback)” utilizing this system. This enables us to quickly share customer feedback with relevant departments.

Results:

Significantly reduced the time it takes to share customer feedback information with relevant departments.
Cross-department communication has been revitalized by enabling employees to access necessary information at any time.
As a result, company-wide awareness of quality improvement has further increased.

Examples of Activities on the X Official Account at KOSÉ Customer Service Center

Activities

＜Active Support＞
We work closely with each customer facing an issue and propose solutions through communication on X.The example on the right shows how we assisted a customer who was having trouble finding a discontinued product by providing information on its successor model and where to purchase it.
The customer gave us a “Like♡”.

＜Regular Post＞
We publish information tailored to the season and trends to address customers' issues and questions.

Example: https://x.com/kose_soudan/status/1826937729902670250

＜Campaign＞
We conducted a gift campaign to propose items that can solve customers’ problems. The campaign is aiming to expand our points of contact with new customers.

Example: https://x.com/kose_soudan/status/1859733625648091389

KOSÉ Customer Service Center X Official Account
https://x.com/kose_soudan/status/1859733625648091389

Inquiries/Feedbacks from Customers in FY2024

KOSÉ receives over 50,000 customer opinions and inquiries annually regarding its products and services. The most common inquiries in 2024 were for Maison KOSÉ EC’s delivery and payment. The next most common inquiries were sales related topics such as store locations and campaigns, as well as product features and usage.
These inquiries accounted for 86% of the total, while reports of product defects and other issues made up 14%. We will continue to strive to create an environment that is easy to access so that our customers can use our services comfortably, and we will work closely with each and every one of them.

Gather a Broad Range of Customer Feedback for Better Products and Services

We actively share customer feedback with relevant departments, promote their utilization, and strive to improve the quality of our products and services. Information is collected and consolidated in our MIRAI Kizuna System and regularly reported to relevant departments in the form of "Customer Experience Reports." We have also developed a "Voice of the Customer Search System," which enables users to check the classification and aggregation of customer feedback and utilize search functionality. The system provides an environment where planners, developers, researchers, and other members can constantly understand our customers, leading to improvements in products and services. For example, when we receive inquiries about product features or usage, we do not only answer the questions, but also use customer feedback as a starting point to make numerous improvements, such as revising packaging labels to make them easier to understand.

In addition, we conduct NPS^®* surveys with approximately 20,000 customers annually across Maison KOSÉ, our directly-managed stores, as well as in various e-commerce sales and online channels. We analyze evaluation results at each touchpoint every month and take concrete actions to improve and enhance our services.

*NPS^® (Net Promoter Score) is an indicator to measure customer loyalty. By quantifying the degree of attachment to and trust in a company or brand, the score is used to evaluate and improve the customer experience at points of contact.

Examples of Product and Service Improvements Based on Customer Feedback

We value the voice of each and every customer and incorporate their feedback into our daily product development. Here, we highlight how we have improved our products based on feedback received at the Customer Service Center.
We will continue to stay close to our customers through beauty, offering products and services that enrich the lives of each valuable customer.

JILL STUART Lip Blossom Glow

Customer Feedback

This is my favorite color, so I’d like to buy it again, but the color number and name are hard to read, and I’m having trouble telling which color I used before.

Improved

The text has been made more readable by reducing the number of characters compared to previous products and improving the layout design.

ESPRIQUE COOL BB SPRAY

Customer Feedback

“There's a lot of information written in small text, making it difficult to read.”

Improved

The text size has been enlarged by utilizing all four sides of the cosmetic box, with design and layout improvements to enhance readability.

Medicated SEKKISEI Brightening Essence Lotion (Trial Size)

Customer Feedback

“I’m considering buying one for travel. Does the ‘For 10 days’ indicate the usage with cotton pads?”

Improved

Since usage amounts differ between cotton pad and palm application, the application method is now included in usage duration calculations.

Medicated SEKKISEI Brightening Essence Lotion

Customer Feedback

① “The transparent sealing sticker is small and difficult to remove.”
“The contents don't come out even when turned upside down. The seal is transparent and small, so I can't tell there's a seal attached.”

② “The text on the cosmetic box is hard to see, making it difficult to understand the usage amount.”

Improved

① The transparent sealing sticker that was attached to the opening has been changed to a paper sealing sticker attached to the outer box.

② The outer box material has been changed from glossy paper to matte paper to make the displayed information more readable and easier to understand.

①

②

Opening a Website for Discontinued Products

Customer Feedback

“I heard my favorite product will be discontinued. Is it true?”
”I don’t see the product in the store anymore. Are they still available?”
”Are there any products similar to the ones I used to use?”

Improved

A guidance service for products that have been discontinued* was launched on the Maison Kosé website in October 2023. Additionally, when suitable alternative products are available, recommendations are provided on the product page.
Furthermore, to help customers identify products that will be discontinued, in advance, a [Scheduled to end in-store sales] icon has been added to the product list page, along with an [Online exclusive] icon for products that are no longer available in stores.

* Products that have been discontinued from production and sales

Aiming for "Easy to Use" for All Customers

At KOSÉ, we continuously innovate with each new product development to create products that are easier to use for all customers.
We also provide tactile considerations to help visually impaired customers identify products more easily.

Free Provision of Braille stickers

We provide free “Braille stickers,” that display cosmetic item names and usage instructions in Braille and large-print text for visually impaired customers. These stickers can be applied to various types of cosmetic containers. If you would like to receive these stickers, please contact the KOSÉ Customer Service Center. Please indicate in the inquiry form that you would like to receive Braille stickers.
（Toll-free number： 0120-526-311）
（For requests by e-mail, kindly click here）

For other KOSÉ COSMEPORT initiatives, see here.

Aiming to provide products that are easy for everyone to use (on the KOSÉ COSMEPORT Corp. website)
“BIOLISS PEACEFUL GREEN” Project (on the KOSÉ COSMEPORT Corp. website)