Sephoria, the retailer’s signature global beauty event, has undergone significant localization in China. Last year’s three-day event attracted nearly 5,000 highly engaged beauty enthusiasts, demonstrating the power of immersive content-led experiences to generate excitement beyond traditional retail formats.
For Motte, Sephoria represents something far larger than an event. “It’s the fashion week of the beauty industry,” he says. “It allows us to showcase the latest innovations, gives our brand partners a stage to tell their stories, and creates direct conversations with our most-engaged consumers.”
For Sephora, balancing global consistency with local relevance has become central to brand-building. Through multiple Makeup Playground activations, the retailer has transformed itself from a point of sale into a cultural destination where younger consumers can explore beauty, creativity, and self-expression.
If Sephoria offers the industry’s most-concentrated expression of Sephora’s experiential philosophy, its stores bring that philosophy into everyday retail.
Its Xiangyang flagship on Shanghai’s Nanjing West Road serves as the clearest example. On the second floor, Sephora partners with brands on long-term immersive environments such as its Beauty Neighborhood, inspired by Shanghai’s distinctive urban character — including vintage photography studios, bespoke tailoring ateliers, and floral installations — where product discovery naturally becomes part of the broader experience.
Retro Shanghai Beauty Neighbourhood.
Photo: Courtesy of Sephora
Future rollouts across China will maintain the same guiding principle, according to Ding. Rather than replicating identical store concepts nationwide, each location will incorporate elements unique to its own city, reinforcing Sephora’s belief that experiential retail should feel locally authentic rather than standardized.
This continued investment in physical retail reflects a long-term commitment to the Chinese market — and to experiential retail more broadly.
“Boring retail is disappearing,” says Motte. “But exciting retail is living and kicking.” In his view, digital channels already excel at convenience and price transparency. What remains uniquely valuable about physical stores, however, is expert consultation, product trial and the emotional resonance created through real-world interactions — elements that continue to motivate consumers to visit stores in-person.