Breathing New Life into Retail with Liz Miao

Beauty is Power - it’s Fearless and Bold

When I think about “Beauty and Beyond,” the first thing that comes to mind is the concept behind Sephora -  My Beauty Power. It’s a multi-faceted concept with many ways to interpret it. On a personal level, the most intuitive embodiment of Beauty Power is appearance. I have always been conscientious about my makeup, and make an effort to stay radiant – as who knows who I’d meet next? On a deeper level, Beauty Power is closely linked to spiritual power, and I think that this spiritual power comes from being bold, fearless, and empowered.

This fearlessness at Sephora can be divided into two dimensions: one is fearless expression. Sephora encourages everyone to speak freely and express their views. Any topic can be discussed openly. The other is fearless innovation in the face of a rapidly changing retail environment – and this initiative is a responsibility that trickles down from management to the individual.

Amplifying the Sound of Fearless Expression

To me, spreading the concept of fearlessness to all our staff members at every level is something I take on as a personal challenge. One afternoon, I walked into a Sephora store in a small town – much to the surprise of the Beauty Advisors there. They couldn’t believe that I would pay them a visit from the headquarters where I worked! They greeted and hugged me like they just met an old friend.

It’s usually the case that there are a lot of important matters to handle when I pay a visit to the store – yet I always see it as a great opportunity to communicate with our front-line beauty advisors. They come to me for advice on life, and work, and I’d often lend a listening ear. Often, I’d learn from their opinions and ideas.

My attitude towards open communication reflects how Sephora actively provides channels and platforms where everyone can suggest and exchange experiences. It is through the cross-sharing of ideas, methods, and operating models that lead us to implementing them in other stores

For instance, some people have introduced ideas meant to improve awareness and sales for the Sephora Collection – our very own brand; Some have taught how to implement CRM (customer relationship management), others have fun ideas to break the ice with customers which internally we’ve named “The Six Ice-Breaking Axes”. I loved this idea and encouraged the teams to make a video on it for the company – the response was very good.

Our retail team is also encouraged to stay curious and actively keep abreast of new makeup and trends. After work, the team spends time experiencing popular beauty make-up stores. After some research they will usually ask me: “Liz, this is a very popular product in the near future, shall we also pilot this out?”

I love their boldness to discover new brands and voice out their suggestions to make a positive impact on our brand. This responsibility belongs to the entire Sephora family. This, in fact, is a huge driving force behind moving Sephora forward.

Transforming and Innovating Beauty

Innovation always comes with its challenges - but it is so worth it. Case in point, over the past few years, we have worked hard to transform the image of the store. Renovating, decorating, improving customer service - you name it. Even our customer ratings took a hit during the tough periods, but after repeated training and practice, we managed to delight our customers once more.

2020, for me, was the bumpiest year after joining Sephora. COVID-19 brought about a huge change on how we had to bring the Sephora experience to our customers. We began to consciously expand the online business. My team and I frequently tap on our colleagues from other departments to discuss, brainstorm, and apply collective wisdom to the full. 

For instance, some amazing innovations include SMART BA – our online sales expert. It came from a spark of collaboration and agility with our digital e-commerce colleagues. “Live-broadcasting”, too, has become a key focus. In this nascent and burgeoning field, the challenges are plenty and hit us fast, and we have put in our best efforts – whether showcasing makeup, imparting skills or interacting with customers - to deliver that awesome Sephora experience for customers. 

A team that has truly fearlessly embraced change and its challenges is the Milenio Plaza store in Tianjin. Onstage, there are employees working the live broadcast. Offstage, other employees are meeting and interacting with customers. The impact of their collaboration is enormous and for all to see. They’ve said a great example for the rest of the company, and my wish is that they will continue to be an inspiration for my colleagues in other regions.

At every level, on every platform, Sephora is constantly evolving. We’ve successfully used many different and innovative methods to guide and encourage our customers, in the process of helping them to discover their most beautiful selves. It happens fast, and we go together.