In a bid to attract women in the growing IoT device market, companies are developing products aimed specifically at the female market. It’s been reported that men are more likely to plan to purchase an in-home IoT device in the next five years compared to women. WayWearables is making an effort to tap into the pool of female customers by working on smart technology for skin care.
According to a survey conducted by Seoul Business Agency, a third of Chinese people spend over RMB 500 (US$82.00) per month for skin care and nine out of ten Chinese women aged 20-30 have a preference for Korean cosmetic brands and quality.
Harnessing this IoT opportunity and China’s beauty market trends, WayWearable has developed an IoT device that gives a total skincare solution, helping users to monitor and protect their skin from UV radiation and atmospheric conditions.
WAY is a small donut-shaped device that can detect atmospheric conditions, such as UV and air moisture content, as well as the moisture content of your skin. WAY also analyzes weather reports in real time and provides skin care suggestions and beauty tips on a device connected to their mobile app.
Prompts such as ‘turn up the humidity to 40%’, ‘ventilate the air’ are given in reaction to the atmosphere, as well as recommendations on skin care products such as moisturizer or sunblock. WayWearable CEO Jason Moon says these devices that accumulate atmospheric data and return prompts will serve as a new business model for beauty industry companies.
“One of our competitors does a skincare product recommendation by analyzing a photo of the consumer. While the device provides outer skin test, WAY provides the inner skin test,” said Moon.
WAY’s aggregation of local weather reports gives users real time atmospheric analysis that gives advice on taking preventive actions to protect your skin. At a projected price point of around $140, WAY is available through crowdfunding platform Indiegogo starting on May 12th.
Moon added that “Currently we are conducting working product tests with 400 people, this feature will be added to WAY’s design in June.”
As participants in Israel Accelerator program Ventureport, WAY received a six-digit investment from Koisra Seed Partners, Albatross investment and Sparklabs. The business model is based on device sales and their recommendation feature.
Expanding its product to overseas countries through Indiegogo, Moon also looks to bring WAY to Chinese female users. “In order to serve Chinese customers, we plan to offer our product through Kimiss, the largest beauty community in China.”
Image Credit: WAYwearable