AI-Powered Beauty Tech Reboots Sephora, Shanghai

Published 13 July 2023

Authors
Marta Mąkolska
2 min read

Trading on advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) to improve its in-store tech, French beauty retailer Sephora’s new Shanghai store incorporates AI-assisted product matching and advanced ingredient and efficacy information (sales of functional skincare are up 19.3% annually in China – Jing Daily) to upgrade its Singapore-based Store of the Future format (see Next-Level Omni-Stores in Global Store Openings: Winter 2022).

“The AI engine integrates skin profile and environmental factors as well as the science of the ingredients to deliver unbiased cross-brand product recommendations,” a spokesperson from Sephora China told Stylus.

There are two new report-creating in-store services:

  • (Skin)Care Analysis: An advanced AI-powered skin analysis device with UV optical scanning capabilities for deeper-layer skin analysis.

    A skincare expert performs the scan, sending the analysis to the shopper’s smartphone, detailing skin health, sensitivity, ageing, lifestyle and environmental exposure effects, along with personalised AI-driven recommendations for products available in-store. 

  • (Make-Up) Look Analysis: An AI and augmented-reality-powered make-up inspiration tablet with tutorials and product recommendations.

    It allows visitors to scan their own face by themselves (facial features, shape, structure) to create a detailed beauty report, also sent to their smartphones, showing AI-generated looks they can try on virtually. The Beauty Play real-life make-up service based on the looks (15 or 60 minutes) is subsequently available in-store free of charge.


Both Care and Look Analysis can be pre-booked via Sephora’s app and the Sephora WeChat Mini Program (sub-app in the WeChat ecosystem).

Also new is Lift and Learn – product panels and price tags with RFID (radio-frequency identification) sensors. Shoppers can learn more about the product ingredients and read millions of customer reviews by simply scanning the tags. Read Cracking the (QR/Bar) Code: Tags That Do More in Omnichannel Retail: Upgrades & Innovations.

See also Evolving the Beauty Flagship and Superstar In-Store Tech.

“The AI engine integrates skin profile and environmental factors as well as the science of the ingredients to deliver unbiased cross-brand product recommendations,” a spokesperson from Sephora China told Stylus.

There are two new report-creating in-store services:

  • (Skin)Care Analysis: An advanced AI-powered skin analysis device with UV optical scanning capabilities for deeper-layer skin analysis.

    A skincare expert performs the scan, sending the analysis to the shopper’s smartphone, detailing skin health, sensitivity, ageing, lifestyle and environmental exposure effects, along with personalised AI-driven recommendations for products available in-store. 

  • (Make-Up) Look Analysis: An AI and augmented-reality-powered make-up inspiration tablet with tutorials and product recommendations.

    It allows visitors to scan their own face by themselves (facial features, shape, structure) to create a detailed beauty report, also sent to their smartphones, showing AI-generated looks they can try on virtually. The Beauty Play real-life make-up service based on the looks (15 or 60 minutes) is subsequently available in-store free of charge.


Both Care and Look Analysis can be pre-booked via Sephora’s app and the Sephora WeChat Mini Program (sub-app in the WeChat ecosystem).

Also new is Lift and Learn – product panels and price tags with RFID (radio-frequency identification) sensors. Shoppers can learn more about the product ingredients and read millions of customer reviews by simply scanning the tags. Read Cracking the (QR/Bar) Code: Tags That Do More in Omnichannel Retail: Upgrades & Innovations.

See also Evolving the Beauty Flagship and Superstar In-Store Tech.

Sephora Store of The Future, Shanghai

Sephora Store of The Future, Shanghai

Sephora Store of The Future, Shanghai

Sephora Store of The Future, Shanghai

Sephora Store of The Future, Shanghai

Sephora Store of The Future, Shanghai

Sephora Store of The Future, Shanghai

Sephora Store of The Future, Shanghai