Sephora to Open Asia's First "Future Store"
- Chaileedo Press
- Sep 19, 2022
- 2 min read
A store is no longer just an offline trading location for goods.
Sephora recently announced that it will open a new concept retail store called "Future Asia Store" in Raffles City Shopping Centre in Singapore on September 23. It is said to cover an area of approximately 4,585 square feet. Another experimental location in Shanghai is expected to open in 2023.
Sephora believes that retailers must understand why consumers return to brick-and-mortar stores after shopping online for a while. Sephora Asia President, Alia Gogi, said stores are no longer just a place where goods are transacted offline. Because consumers have so many digital contact points to transact, experiential retailing is critical. Accordingly, Sephora has decided to launch the "Future Asia Shop" program in Singapore and Shanghai.
"The Future Asia Shop puts the space, digital, and human elements in the same space. All products have corresponding barcodes, and customers can scan the barcode on the product or the QR code in the store to access the product rating and review page. Alia Gogi said more than one million ratings and reviews are now available to consumers in the store.
The new store will also feature interactive game tables for skincare and makeup. Technology such as "Lift and Learn" will allow consumers to display information about products on the screen as they hold up the products on the table. This area will focus on the 7 major skin questions and provide answers to consumers.
Furthermore, the new store will offer skincare and testing services. For example, Perk By Hydrafacial, a non-invasive facial treatment using surface resurfacing technology, and Skincredible 2.0, a handheld filming device that can take pictures of three parts of the face and then assess the skin condition based on the photos and give product recommendations based on the assessment.
As consumers like to learn about makeup on social media, Sephora’s Asia Future Shop also sets up an interactive Play Table, where people can shop for popular makeup looks through video tutorials created by the "Sephora squad". At the back of the beauty area is The Beauty Live Studio, which offers free classes to consumers, and they can also book classes online through an app. And the area is expected to offer 50 classes over the next two months according to the report. Sephora stores will no longer just be a place to shop, but also a place to receive beauty education. It also said this will be the first cashless Sephora store, and beauty consultants will have POS handheld devices to support payments at all times.
After the opening of the Singapore store, the next Future Store is reportedly set to open in Shanghai in 2023. As early as 2018, Sephora's first new concept store in Asia landed in Shanghai, introducing smart beauty technologies including AR technology, cloud shelves, virtual fitting, mini makeup shows, and more.
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