Bringing Words Closer to Your Skin. In-House Developed AI Specialized for Skin Diagnosis
Yakuodo will renew its official app's 'Skin Diagnosis' feature on April 10, 2026, introducing an in-house developed, specialized AI to replicate the personalized customer service of its store staff, along with a new favorites feature.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 11, 2026 at 00:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 11, 2026 at 00:22 (22 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 20, 2026 at 05:39 (221h 17m after Collected)
Yakuodo Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture / Representative Director, President and Executive Officer: Koichi Saigo / hereinafter Yakuodo), which operates 458 drugstores in the six Tohoku prefectures, Tochigi Prefecture, and Ibaraki Prefecture, will implement the third renewal of the "Skin Diagnosis" function installed in the Yakuodo official app on Friday, April 10, 2026, aimed at further improving quality.
For many years, Yakuodo has aimed to replicate the "customer-centric counseling" cultivated at its storefronts within its app. In the first phase, an "explanation function" was implemented by having AI learn the knowledge of 100 staff members. In the second phase, the company implemented a multi-recommendation function developed in-house and redesigned the product categories.
The biggest change in the third phase is the complete revamp of the explanatory AI. Yakuodo has switched from the generic LLM utilized previously to an original LLM (Skin Diagnosis Specialized AI) developed entirely in-house specifically for skin diagnosis. The core of this decision lies in the commitment to "consistently deliver Yakuodo-like words every time." Additionally, responding to customer feedback requesting to "look back at recommended products later," a favorites function has been added. All aspects of design, development, and verification have been completed in-house.
The use of this skin diagnosis feature is steadily expanding. New users are increasing by approximately 1,300 every month, and the total number of diagnoses post-renewal reached 60,000 by the end of March 2026. From these results, there are signs that it is beginning to take root in daily skincare routines. Based on such customer feedback and usage data, we are implementing this third renewal.
・Key Points of the Renewal
1. In-House Development of Skin Diagnosis Specialized AI - Consistently providing stable explanations with Yakuodo-like words
We have revamped the system from the generic AI previously used for generating explanations to a skin diagnosis specialized AI developed by Yakuodo itself.
Just as a cosmetics sales staff member at a store would look at a customer's skin condition and say, "It's a little dry today" or "This item seems to suit you" - recreating that counseling experience on the app is a consistent theme for Yakuodo.
By switching to the skin diagnosis specialized AI, we can more faithfully reflect the customer service knowledge and terminology accumulated by Yakuodo staff, enabling us to deliver explanations of consistent quality with every diagnosis. This is an initiative by Yakuodo, which has been pursuing a "gentle, easy-to-understand, and effective" diagnostic experience, to make that quality even more reliable.
2. New Favorites Registration Function - Look back at items of interest anytime
When you find an item of interest among the recommended products, we have added a function that allows you to register it to your favorites simply by tapping the heart button in the upper right corner of the product.
This is a function akin to the feeling of wanting to jot down a product that a staff member recommended at the store saying "This is good," so you can check it later.
Until now, there was no way to look back at recommended products later, but this function allows you to save products you are interested in as "favorite products." Registered items can be checked at any time from the TOP page and the recommendation screen. As a result, users can proceed with their purchasing considerations at their own pace, such as "I want to check it when I go to the store" or "I want to switch to it when my current item runs out."
For many years, Yakuodo has aimed to replicate the "customer-centric counseling" cultivated at its storefronts within its app. In the first phase, an "explanation function" was implemented by having AI learn the knowledge of 100 staff members. In the second phase, the company implemented a multi-recommendation function developed in-house and redesigned the product categories.
The biggest change in the third phase is the complete revamp of the explanatory AI. Yakuodo has switched from the generic LLM utilized previously to an original LLM (Skin Diagnosis Specialized AI) developed entirely in-house specifically for skin diagnosis. The core of this decision lies in the commitment to "consistently deliver Yakuodo-like words every time." Additionally, responding to customer feedback requesting to "look back at recommended products later," a favorites function has been added. All aspects of design, development, and verification have been completed in-house.
The use of this skin diagnosis feature is steadily expanding. New users are increasing by approximately 1,300 every month, and the total number of diagnoses post-renewal reached 60,000 by the end of March 2026. From these results, there are signs that it is beginning to take root in daily skincare routines. Based on such customer feedback and usage data, we are implementing this third renewal.
・Key Points of the Renewal
1. In-House Development of Skin Diagnosis Specialized AI - Consistently providing stable explanations with Yakuodo-like words
We have revamped the system from the generic AI previously used for generating explanations to a skin diagnosis specialized AI developed by Yakuodo itself.
Just as a cosmetics sales staff member at a store would look at a customer's skin condition and say, "It's a little dry today" or "This item seems to suit you" - recreating that counseling experience on the app is a consistent theme for Yakuodo.
By switching to the skin diagnosis specialized AI, we can more faithfully reflect the customer service knowledge and terminology accumulated by Yakuodo staff, enabling us to deliver explanations of consistent quality with every diagnosis. This is an initiative by Yakuodo, which has been pursuing a "gentle, easy-to-understand, and effective" diagnostic experience, to make that quality even more reliable.
2. New Favorites Registration Function - Look back at items of interest anytime
When you find an item of interest among the recommended products, we have added a function that allows you to register it to your favorites simply by tapping the heart button in the upper right corner of the product.
This is a function akin to the feeling of wanting to jot down a product that a staff member recommended at the store saying "This is good," so you can check it later.
Until now, there was no way to look back at recommended products later, but this function allows you to save products you are interested in as "favorite products." Registered items can be checked at any time from the TOP page and the recommendation screen. As a result, users can proceed with their purchasing considerations at their own pace, such as "I want to check it when I go to the store" or "I want to switch to it when my current item runs out."