Key Takeaways:

• Sephora CEO says “boring retail is dead” as sales have nearly tripled since COVID and global expansion accelerates.
• Kiko Milano targets 150 new stores and a collaboration with Cavalli to become “the hottest brand.”
• TikTok Shop redefines retail, with creators driving trust and the bulk of beauty sales growth.

In its first European edition, the National Retail Federation’s Big Show landed in Paris with a message that reflected both urgency and optimism as industry leaders discussed the rapid evolution of the sector and how they are adapting to it. Over three days of presentations and panels, chief executives from Sephora, Kiko Milano, Best Buy, Walmart, On, and others mapped how in-store experiences, data, AI, and cross-border collaboration are driving shopping decisions.

The conversations were framed by the premise that the retail industry isn’t only about selling goods, but about sustaining jobs and the economy, driving innovation, and creating opportunities in a favorable trading environment.

NRF President: “Retail Drives Growth, Innovation, and Opportunity”

The NRF’s longtime President Matthew Shay opened the first European edition of a conference that has been taking place in New York City for nearly a century. “Retail is the largest private employer in the world. It drives innovation and technology—creates opportunities and changes lives,” he said.

Shay emphasized the retail industry’s global scale and economic significance. “We are talking about an industry that employs more people than any other sector on earth,” he said. “It is the largest private employer, it fuels innovation, and it is central to economic growth.”

He also underlined the geopolitical and economic dimensions of retail, especially after President Trump took office in the US. “We’re committed to advocating for a regulatory framework that encourages growth, access to skilled labor, that powers businesses and drives innovation,” he said. “We believe it’s essential to ensure that the retail industry continues to drive economies around the world, and that will require free and open markets and access to capital.”

The convention center of Expo Porte de Versailles reflected this vision with more than 500 international exhibitors, a “start-up hub” showcasing next-generation companies, and an innovation showcase featuring 30 innovative technology companies transforming the retail market in Europe.

Sephora’s Global CEO Guillaume Motte: “Boring Retail Is Dead”

If NRF set the scale, Sephora provided the first big fireside chat on stage in a discussion that included a showcase of numbers, which its owner, LVMH, rarely discloses. The French retailer’s Global Chief Executive Guillaume Motte, who stepped into the role in 2023, highlighted how Sephora has become a benchmark in global beauty. “We are the only global beauty retailer,” he said. “We operate in 35 markets, employ 50,000 people, partner with 500 brands, and today Sephora is recognized as one of the most powerful brands in the world.”

He then reminded the audience of Sephora’s growth arc: “If we look at the past ten years, we will have tripled ourselves since then, and if we look at a post-COVID time, which is now a new reference for retail, we will almost have doubled ourselves since then.”

Motte didn’t want to get lost in the financials, though. “The numbers are the consequence, not the goal,” he said. “What matters is the passion shared by our teams, our customers, and our brand partners. That is the heart of Sephora.”

• On growth: “In North America, we grew 9% last year. In Europe, 21%. In Latin America, 39%. In the Middle East, 22%,” Motte said. “In the US we grew twice as fast as the market. In the Middle East, we are growing 20 times faster.”
   
• On experience: Some people said consumers wouldn’t shop at stores after COVID, Motte said. “That is nonsense," he said, noting that the Gen Z consumer wants to go to the store and experience the product for a special experience. “Boring retail is dead. Exciting retail is alive and kicking.” He pointed to a 4,000-person line for Sephora’s London debut in 2022 and the relaunch of its Champs-Élysées flagship in 2023.
   
• On curation: “We don’t have buyers, we have merchants,” Motte said. “They co-develop products with brands. Dior Backstage was created with our teams. We just had our biggest launch ever with rhode. We create growth.”
   
• On digital: “A third of our business is online,” Motte noted. “We’ve embedded AI into our app—for example, to personalize haircare recommendations, which are hard to match.”
   
• On community: “74 million beauty fans are active in our loyalty programs. That’s 74 million people giving us the confidence to personalize their journey and create a world where everyone can celebrate their beauty. We belong to something beautiful.”

Kiko Milano CEO Simone Dominici: “We Want to Become the Hottest Brand”

Italian beauty company Kiko Milano made clear it wants to be the next big thing in the industry with the backing of US private equity firm L Catterton, of which 40% is owned by LVMH. “We want to become the hottest brand in the market,” said CEO Simone Dominici, who took over the role in March of 2022. “That means delivering the best value for money.”

Dominici laid out an ambitious expansion plan as Kiko Milano gains traction in key markets such as France. “As we speak, we’re opening another 150 stores in countries with a very high commercial rate,” he said. The brand ranks as the number one in Italy by market share, second in France behind Maybelline New York and ahead of L’Oréal Paris, third in Spain, and first in the United Arab Emirates.

“By the end of the year, we’ll be in 75 markets, including the US, Africa, and South East Asia,” Dominici said. The company is entering the Indian market in October and is planning to be present in South Africa early next year.

• On innovation: “We generate 450 new products every year,” he said. “We will shock the US market with something unique. In a country where new brands pop up daily, innovation must be in your DNA.”
   
• On partnerships: “Next summer, we’re launching a makeup line with Cavalli. Expect zebra prints, wild nature—it’s Italian creativity meeting global icons.”
   
• On identity: “We are moving from being a retailer to a brand. As a brand, you curate to stand out. Every touchpoint must be consistent: global icon, locally relevant.”
   
• On culture: “Customer obsession starts with empathy. Our beauty advisors see 85 customers a day—that’s 85 opportunities to learn. Tech helps, but the human touch is what matters most.”

TikTok Shop: The Rise of Social Commerce

“Content creators are the modern-day advisors for shoppers,” said Guillaume Coudry, Western Europe E-commerce Leader at NIQ, during a panel about TikTok Shop. “They are to TikTok what store associates are to physical retail.”

Now live in Germany, Italy, the UK, Ireland, and France, TikTok Shop has quickly become a force in beauty, Coudry said.

“Health and beauty is our top category on TikTok Shop, but its relative share is declining,” added Alexandre Giraudeau, Head of Strategic Accounts and Agency Partnerships at TikTok Shop. “Half our shoppers are under 30, being the ones that drive engagement, with the remaining being over 30. However, millennials make up 32% of spend, and they spend more than other generational groups.”

• The numbers: Overall, the average TikTok shopper spends €2,050 ($2,390) per year, up from €1,600 ($1,800) that the average online shopper spends, according to data from NielsenIQ Digital Purchase for the period ended Aug. 31. The annual TikTok shopper purchase frequency is also higher, at 49 times from 31 times for the average online shopper. However, the annual average basket size is lower for the TikTok shopper–€42 ($49) from €53 ($61) for the average online shopper. 
  
  
• The L’Oréal example on TikTok Shop UK: On its so-called Super Brand Day last year, a six-day exclusive campaign with live marathon shopping events that ran September 16-21, with a two-hour live podcast from London’s Piccadilly Circus on September 18, L’Oréal generated a sixfold gross merchandise value uplift, 48,000 stock-keeping unit orders, 7 million views, and 3,800 hashtags through 1,900 creators.
   
• Reach: TikTok Shop has 100 million active users in Europe, who spend an average of 100 minutes on the platform compared with 63 minutes on YouTube, 43 minutes on Facebook, and 36 minutes on Instagram.
   
• Expenses: The economics of doing business on TikTok Shop include several layers of costs. “TikTok Shop charges a 5% commission [in France,]” Giraudeau said. “Then brands usually have between 15% to 50% in creator-related costs,” he added, noting that companies face around 20% in commissions related to TikTok Shop.

But creators bring trust—58% of users say they’ll trust a brand they discover through creators, Giraudeau said.

Carrefour’s French debut proved the point, Coudry said. “On day one, 89% of GMV came through creators,” he noted. “That’s the power of affiliation.”

Three takeaways from the presentation:

1. The online channel is rapidly gaining market share in Europe amid bigger value spend and new experiences. 
2. Social commerce is not just for happy-fews: Gen Z and Beauty over-index, but success is due to Gen X’s strong influence and significant footprint on all product categories and all sizes of actors. 
3. TikTok Shop is a fully integrated marketplace that offers an end-to-end shopping experience, increasing engagement with consumers.

When Department Stores Seek to Go Beyond What’s Expected from Them

“Many department stores don’t want to be called department stores anymore,” said Selvane Mohandas du Menil of the Association of Department Stores (IADS). “They want to be lifestyle companies.”

The reinventions are striking: The UK’s Selfridges opened a cinema, France’s Le Bon Marché uses art to drive traffic, Galeries Lafayette crafts year-round cultural moments—from Kylie Jenner Cosmetics events to Jacquemus activations and Parisian voices like Sophie Fontanel, du Menil cited as examples.

“The winners are creating culture, not just selling products,” du Menil said.

Together with AI Panel: Revolutionizing the Future of Retail

“AI doesn’t work without data,” said Anika Vooes, Chief Acceleration Manager at Germany-based software development company Rewe Digital. “You’ll only be as good as your data,” agreed Rafael Pires, Head of Tech Experimentation at Portugal’s food retail company MC - Sonae.

Shoeby CEO Mitch van Deursen added: “If we want to be an AI company, we must change strategy, structure, and culture. I hired someone to automate me. Leaders have to model experimentation.”

• On hiring: Pires looks for an AI-first mentality. Vooes wants diverse teams to train better systems. Van Deursen hires for energy and mindset.
   
• On timeline: “By 2027, AI will be fully integrated,” Pires predicted. “In the meantime, pilots are scaling.”

Walmart: Holidays as a Tipping Point

This year’s holiday season will mark a turning point for AI adoption, predicted Diana Marshall, Executive Vice President and Chief Experience officer at Walmart’s Sam’s Club.

“We’ve been using AI at Sam’s Club for a long time,” Marshall said about Sparky, Sam’s Club generative AI assistant, which synthesizes reviews, offers occasion-based recommendations, and helps customers plan, compare and make purchases. “Holidays will mark the shift in how people shop—dramatically.”

The Takeaway

During the first NRF Big Show Event in Europe, leaders are differentiating with sharper curation, experiences that earn the trip, personalization powered by data, regulatory preparedness, and credible sustainability. As Sephora’s Motte put it: “Boring retail is dead.”

For beauty, the story is being driven by younger consumers. “I see 10-year-olds walking into Sephora, with social media being a huge driver,” said Jill Standish, Senior Vice President of Content at NRF, in an interview. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram are shaping shopping habits and fueling growth in beauty and specialty apparel, though rising unemployment could test discretionary spending in the months ahead.

Looking ahead, NRF is framing 2026 around change, speed, and generational shifts. “Our theme will be ‘The Next is Now,'” Standish said. “Next year, we’ll focus more on Gen Z and millennials. These customers shop based on values and transparency and will boycott a brand if they don’t believe in it. Retailers need to recognize that and respond.”

The week in Paris showed that for those willing to reinvent, retail can be very much alive, and that for retailers willing to reinvent, the future is already here.