Like Water, Like Air: The Science of Hospitality: Tatsuya Kitagawa (Part 1)

 

Isetan's Technology Initiatives: The Future of Presentation and Sales

Ozaki: Today, we'll discuss Mitsukoshi Isetan Holdings' technology initiatives. First, how did you approach last year's "Color Festival"?

Color Festival

Kitagawa: We run a nationwide campaign under the single keyword "Color Festival," including group companies like Iwataya and Marui Imai. Last year, "digital" was the central keyword. We aimed to create experiences across the entire store where customers could take home not just the products they purchased, but the entire experience.

The fashion × technology experiences were incredibly diverse—from showcasing items created through crowdfunding platforms like Makuake to AI-powered styling—so while it might seem eclectic at first glance, we tried to present it from various angles.

Ozaki: You also sponsored "Decoded Fashion Tokyo," right?

Kitagawa: Yes. At "Decoded Fashion Tokyo," they hosted a technology-based idea competition. We showcased two winning entries at the festival: "Memomi," a digital full-length mirror, and the runner-up, a 3D printer that creates fabric from thread. Manufacturing will truly transform significantly with the advent of 3D printing.

The 3D printer that creates fabric from thread itself is still only a prototype, with just one unit in the US. Bringing it to Japan would be too risky. So, we displayed actual products made with this printer, like seamless tank tops, and showed the manufacturing process via video. It's a process where liquidized fibers are sprayed onto a mold, dry, and then the finished garment is removed from the mold.

We wanted to convey the potential of how clothing might be supplied in customers' future lives. We don't think everything will be replaced, but if 3D technology advances further, you could print something that fits your body perfectly in just a few minutes. If a world arrives where you can buy that for a few hundred yen, the concept of custom-made clothing will change, right?

"Memomi" is more straightforward. When you wear the clothes and stand in front of the mirror, you can have various experiences right there. You can see every angle, even your own back, in detail, or change the color of the clothes. You can instantly send images taken there to your partner via SNS, for example. I think the significance lies in how "experiences" that were previously only possible online are now emerging, connected to real-world spaces.

Memomi

3D-printed T-shirt

 

Isetan's unique styling proposals using artificial intelligence

Kitagawa: Actually, we already offer AI-powered styling suggestions in both the Main Building and the Men's Building. As a lifestyle proposal company, even when offering wearable devices, we want to provide ways technology enables previously impossible things—like managing health to live more actively, or gifting them to parents for remote health monitoring—enriching and enhancing life. We sell watch-type, glasses-type, and smart devices, but looking ahead about five years, we want to keep learning by repeatedly proposing new experiences.

Ozaki: You've also introduced "ISETAN Navi," right?

Kitagawa: Yes, hundreds of beacons are already installed within the Isetan Shinjuku store. The "ISETAN Navi" app uses these beacons for navigation. It's still a developing app at this stage, and we need to expand its applications, such as for one-to-one communication with customers.

Ozaki: Getting customers to visit the store while using the app is a big, difficult challenge. With apps, you can buy anything anywhere.

Kitagawa: There's talk that young people aren't buying cars anymore, but they're spending their money somewhere. On food, communication fees, essentially, the points where they choose to spend their money are changing. Similarly, even though there are still 24 hours in a day, the points where they spend those 24 hours, how they choose to spend them, are changing. They are definitely spending their time.

When customers visit our stores, it's not always just to buy a product. For example, even if they come to buy a coat, they aren't just buying the function of warmth. They're buying the experience of wearing it – perhaps to add a touch of elegance to today's date, or to enrich their daily life in some way, to experience a change. In that sense, providing that "experience" makes the physical space incredibly important.

In that sense, I believe it's extremely important for customers to experience a positive kind of magic within the department store space. If they have a truly wonderful time there, then whether they make their purchase in-store or online becomes secondary. The excitement of taking home the purchased item and opening it might be another kind of magic.

While we'll properly establish digital systems, what's fundamentally important going forward is how much wisdom and resources we can invest in the physical space. I believe the value of the physical space actually increases synergistically precisely because digital exists.

 

Digital technology should be "like water, like air"

Ozaki: So digital enhances the value of the physical. In terms of app usage, could you give an example?

Kitagawa: I often use the phrase "like water, like air" lately. Essentially, I think we should view digital as infrastructure that's indispensable yet so seamless we don't constantly notice its presence. For example, if the second floor of Isetan Men's is your regular spot, you might launch the app to book your usual stylist for advice on the weekend. We should aim for a state where customers do this naturally, without thinking.

Ozaki: AI could understand your personality and offer personalized 1-to-1 product recommendations too.