Recently, CHAILEEDO exclusively learned that Sephora Greater China’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Lily Zhou, retired at the end of August this year, after serving in the role for more than seven years.
Since 2018, Zhou has long acted as Sephora China’s No. 2 executive, overseeing functions including operations and financial management, investment and acquisitions, omni-channel supply chain layout, as well as legal and regulatory affairs.
According to LinkedIn, Christophe Ravier has succeeded Zhou as the new COO of Sephora Greater China. He was previously the Chief Financial Officer for Louis Vuitton in the Middle East.
CHAILEEDO noted that since last year, Sephora China’s management team has undergone frequent changes. In January 2024, Maggie Chan, General Manager of Sephora Greater China, left the company. She was succeeded by Ding Xia, formerly with Nike and JD Fashion, who became the new head of Sephora China. In March, foreign media reported that Sephora’s global CEO, Guillaume Motte, had taken direct charge of the China business, with Ding reporting directly to him.
Public records also show that several of Sephora China’s core executives, including Peiheng Cheng, Vice President of Marketing for Greater China, and Chaoran Zhu, Vice President of Retail for China, resigned last year.
It is worth noting that this year marks the 20th anniversary of Sephora’s entry into China. However, the rollercoaster-like decline in performance and ongoing senior leadership turmoil have undoubtedly cast a shadow over this milestone. As China’s beauty market enters a new era of diversified channels, stratified consumption, and the rise of domestic brands, Sephora’s value is facing its most severe test yet.
Over 21 Years at LVMH
According to the National Enterprise Credit Information System, there have recently been major personnel changes at Sephora China’s two main operating entities: Sephora (Shanghai) Cosmetics Sales Co., Ltd. (“Sephora Shanghai”) and Sephora (Beijing) Cosmetics Sales Co., Ltd. (“Sephora Beijing”).
CHAILEEDO found that the biggest change is the exit of Lily Zhou. For example, the legal representative of both Sephora Shanghai and Sephora Beijing has been changed from Zhou to Ding Xia. Zhou had served as the legal representative of Sephora Shanghai for nearly five years.
In addition, Zhou’s role as director at both companies has been assumed by Christophe Ravier. As of the time of publication, corporate registry records show that Zhou no longer holds any positions in these two companies.
CHAILEEDO has learned that Zhou, born in 1964, is now 61 years old. The news of her retirement at the end of August was directly confirmed by Zhou herself.
According to the “Sephora China Recruitment” WeChat account and her LinkedIn profile, Zhou holds an EMBA degree from Fudan University–Washington University. She joined LVMH in 2004, serving as Senior Vice President of Finance and Operations for LVMH Perfumes and Cosmetics China for ten years. During that time, she witnessed the rapid expansion of the division in China, growing from just Dior and Guerlain to nearly ten brands.
Afterward, Zhou also served as Global Chief Financial Officer of Ku De Ta Group, a portfolio company of L Capital Asia (an LVMH investment arm), where she participated in the group’s investment management in the Asia-Pacific region.
In January 2018, Zhou joined Sephora China as Chief Operating Officer of Greater China, overseeing multiple teams across procurement, legal, finance, and supply chain, a role she held until her recent retirement.
As Sephora China’s No. 2 executive, Zhou frequently represented the company at industry conferences, sharing her views on sustainability, shifts in China’s beauty market, and corporate governance.
At a 2021 beauty forum jointly hosted by Oriental Beauty Valley and CHAILEEDO, Zhou remarked that China’s beauty market was evolving rapidly, with new trends, habits, and preferences emerging every three to four years. This, she said, drove Sephora to quickly bring in new brands and help incubate emerging Chinese beauty labels.
Notably, Zhou’s tenure as Sephora China’s No. 2 overlapped significantly with that of Maggie Chan, who became head of Sephora China in 2018. The two worked together closely for years before Chan’s departure in January 2024.
When Chan took the top role in 2018, she introduced the “Authentic Retail” concept, focused on consumer-centric, omni-channel strategies. As COO, Zhou was responsible for operational execution, spearheading initiatives such as establishing Sephora’s Guangzhou warehouse and implementing the company’s sustainability roadmap.
Zhou’s departure now means that both Sephora China’s No. 1 and No. 2 leadership roles have changed hands within the past 20 months.
It is also worth noting that, according to LinkedIn and the National Enterprise Credit Information System, Zhou’s successor is Christophe Ravier. He previously served nearly seven years as Chief Financial Officer for Louis Vuitton in the Middle East, and before that as CFO of Heng Long, a Singapore-based luxury crocodile leather tannery acquired by LVMH in 2011.
CHAILEEDO reached out to LVMH, Sephora’s parent company, for further details regarding the COO transition in China, but had not received a response as of press time.
37 Billion Yuan Sales Decline in Three Years, Leadership Shake-Up at Sephora China
In 2023, less than a year into his tenure, Sephora’s global CEO Guillaume Motte ambitiously set a target of €20 billion (approximately RMB 167.18 billion) in annual revenue. According to foreign media, Sephora recorded its “strongest year ever” in 2022 with record sales and profits, making it LVMH’s second-largest brand after Louis Vuitton.
In Motte’s view, the U.S. and China markets were key to achieving this goal, with room for further store expansion in China. “Our second priority region is China,” he said. “(China) only has 350 stores, nearly the same as in France, and we have the capacity to open more.”
At the time, Motte may not have anticipated just how complicated Sephora’s challenges in China would be.
CHAILEEDO’s review shows that Sephora China’s performance has fluctuated dramatically over the past seven years. From 2018 to 2021, the company experienced a golden period of growth, with revenue rising from RMB 7.451 billion to RMB 10.877 billion. However, impacted by the pandemic and shifting market dynamics, Sephora China’s momentum stalled after peaking in 2021. By 2024, revenue had fallen by RMB 3.7 billion compared with 2021, slipping below 2018 levels.
In the first half of this year, Shanghai Jahwa’s interim report revealed that Sephora China generated revenue of RMB 3.444 billion, down 12.3% year on year, with a net loss of RMB 120 million—indicating a continued downward trend.
In fact, Sephora’s struggles extend across Asia. In 2023, Sephora announced its exit from the Taiwan market, and the following year it was pushed out of South Korea by local beauty retailer CJ Olive Young.
According to CHAILEEDO, faced with lackluster performance, Sephora began quietly preparing for change in the China market starting in 2023. This included leadership reshuffles and strategic adjustments.
Some media reported as early as July 2023 that LVMH was seeking a new leader for Sephora China to drive its next phase of growth. Other outlets noted that internal discussions around restructuring were already underway in the first half of that year.
In 2024, after Ding Xia succeeded Maggie Chan as head of Sephora China, the transformation began to take clearer shape. According to reports, following Ding’s appointment to oversee Sephora Greater China, the company cut hundreds of jobs, affecting about 10% of its 4,000-plus employees. Sephora at the time stated the move would impact fewer than 3% of staff, or fewer than 120 roles.
According to Sephora China’s official website, the company had more than 4,700 employees as of October 2022, with an average age of 30. Corporate registry data further shows that the number of insured employees at Sephora Shanghai and Sephora Beijing dropped from 4,952 in 2022 to 4,245 last year—a reduction of more than 700.
Some media also reported that some senior executives, including national heads of retail and e-commerce, left the company.
CHAILEEDO’s review of LinkedIn and other public sources found significant leadership turnover at Sephora China since last year. For instance, Anita Ching, Vice President of Marketing for Greater China, left in September 2023 after serving in the role for more than three years.
Similarly, Mars Zhu, former Vice President of Retail for China, also departed around the same time and is now Executive Vice General Manager at beauty retailer Yanli Group. Meanwhile, Li Yuan, former Vice President of Digital and E-commerce at Sephora China, is now Chief AI Innovation Officer at ChatLabs, a company that previously won the LVMH Innovation Award.
At the same time, Sephora China has brought in new leadership. The company confirmed to CHAILEEDO that Sherry Deng (Deng Qingxiu) has been appointed Vice President of E-commerce and Social Commerce. Public records show that she previously held positions at Estée Lauder, Canada Goose, and Under Armour.
Didier Perrot-Minot, who was recognized by Guillaume Motte for his strong performance as General Manager of Sephora Hong Kong, has also been promoted to Vice President of Merchandising for Greater China.
Sephora’s Struggles in China: Distorted Retail and the Vanishing “Experience”
“Sometimes I hear that retail is dead. Of course, boring retail definitely is,” said Guillaume Motte, CEO of the global prestige beauty retail giant. “(Retail) must be vibrant, it must be exciting.”
According to LVMH’s latest half-year report, despite high base pressure, Sephora continued to grow revenue thanks to its strong strategy, expanded market share in multiple countries, and strengthened its loyal customer base through differentiated products and omnichannel innovation.
Yet, while Sephora thrives in many markets worldwide, its sluggish performance in China presents a stark contrast. Why is it that a retailer once brimming with style and vitality now finds itself struggling in China?
CHAILEEDO’s analysis suggests that the unique multi-channel structure of China’s beauty market, a company culture overly focused on KPI-driven conversions, and the weakening of its exclusive brand advantage are key reasons behind Sephora China’s slowdown.
Take exclusive brands, for example. Once one of Sephora’s most important competitive advantages, brands such as Dr. Barbara Sturm, Caudalie, and Esthederm helped Sephora China build a strong moat and deliver rapid growth. But as brand distribution has become increasingly fragmented and online channels have surged, that advantage has come under heavy pressure.
With exclusive brand strength weakening, Sephora’s KPI-driven mechanisms have “distorted” in-store service. The “experience” once core to Sephora’s DNA is now visibly diminished.
At the same time, China’s high-end beauty market has cooled in recent years, with consumers leaning toward better value-for-money options. Sephora has not been immune. According to Goldman Sachs Research, the Chinese premium beauty market saw its compound annual growth rate decline by 3% between 2021 and 2024, with market size shrinking from RMB 257.8 billion to RMB 236.4 billion—losing RMB 21.4 billion in just four years.
Still, despite mounting questions around Sephora China’s value, its more than 300 stores, large base of high-quality consumers, and symbolic association with prestige beauty continue to attract brands. Since last year, overseas players such as Takami, The Ordinary, and Natasha Denona have chosen Sephora as a priority channel, while emerging Chinese names like Cofumei, Usyran, and Documents have also recognized Sephora’s potential to elevate brand positioning and support international expansion.
“To win back Chinese consumers, what Sephora needs most is to truly get closer, understand them, and identify what unique value it offers today’s shoppers—beyond just relying on discounts,” said one industry insider.
Over the past 20 years, Sephora has opened a window for Chinese consumers to experience a broader world of beauty. But now that Chinese consumers stand on equal footing with the global market, Sephora must find a new reason for its existence.
