Hannan Biryo, Japan's No. 1 in the Beauty Industry by Sales, Decides to Implement Conversational Voice AI SaaS "IVRy" Across All 599 Stores

IVRy Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director/CEO: Ryoga Okunishi; hereinafter referred to as "Our Company") is pleased to announce that Hannan Biryo Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Fujiidera City, Osaka Prefecture; President: Yudai Hamaya; hereinafter referred to as "Hannan Biryo") has decided to implement the conversational voice AI SaaS "IVRy" across its 599 "PLAGE" beauty salons nationwide. The rollout is scheduled to commence sequentially from April 2026. In a Proof of Concept (PoC) conducted at 18 stores prior to this full-scale implementation, the AI successfully automated 78% of phone inquiries. This is projected to achieve operational efficiency equivalent to approximately 89.62 million yen annually across all stores, aiming to create an environment where store staff can concentrate on providing the core value of "hair treatments.". ※1: Survey by Nikkei MJ Newspaper, published October 22, 2025.

Background and Challenges Amidst a severe labor shortage in the beauty industry, "answering phone calls during treatments" poses a significant burden on salons. Answering the phone while shampooing or cutting hair physically delays waiting customers and makes it difficult to maintain service quality. To promote its rebranding "Be yourself, faster.", announced in October 2024, Hannan Biryo aims to solve these challenges with technology and build a "next-generation salon model" that maximizes both customer experience and employee satisfaction.

PoC (Implementation Verification) Results The verification conducted at 18 pilot stores yielded the following results: ・AI Automated 78.0% of Phone Inquiries IVRy handled the majority of routine inquiries such as "current congestion status," "business hours," and "pricing information," reducing the number of times staff had to interrupt their work.

・Operational Efficiency of Approximately 89.62 Million Yen Annually (Calculated for All Stores) Assuming 5 minutes per call (including post-call processing), rolling out to all 599 stores is expected to lead to operational efficiency gains of approximately 89.62 million yen annually for the entire organization. This successfully reduced the time staff had to "step away from attending to the customer in front of them.".

Future Outlook: "A New Customer Experience" Realized by Hannan Biryo Starting April 2026, IVRy will be sequentially rolled out to all 599 stores nationwide. The implementation of IVRy will go beyond mere efficiency improvements to create a "new normal" for both customers and staff. For customers, it will provide the peace of mind of being "connected anytime," 24/7. Even for inquiries during nighttime or busy periods, the AI will respond instantly, creating an environment where communication can be completed stress-free at the very moment they wish to confirm information. Meanwhile, frontline staff will be freed from interruptions caused by phone calls, allowing them to concentrate on providing the essential value of "hair treatments." This will evolve the environment to pursue the provision of fast, high-quality services that cater to each individual's uniqueness, in line with the core of their rebranding, "Be yourself, faster.".

Comment from Representative of Hannan Biryo Co., Ltd. Our mission is to fulfill the "beauty" of each and every customer and fill this town, this world, with "beauty." By implementing IVRy, we will minimize the time our staff spend putting down their scissors to answer the phone, allowing them to dedicate more time to the "skills" and "heart" of attending to the customer in front of them. We will continue to provide customers with satisfaction beyond their expectations by adding further "quality" to our strength of "speed." IVRy is the key to the new...