China's personal grooming industry has seen even more explosive growth this year as online business seeps into the offline cosmetic sector.

The chief analyst at CBNData Li Xiang said that the two major reasons are the rising consumption power of young shoppers and the penetration of online platforms into lower-tier cities.

“The young consumers born in ‘80s and ‘90s prefer to purchase products recommended by key opinion leaders or skin care and cosmetic bloggers. In addition, the emerging demand from consumers in lower-tier cities, the growth of their sales volumes and consumer numbers is much faster than in first tier cities,” Li added.

While offline retail gradually loses competitiveness, the applications of Augmented Reality Technology, the idea of new retail, and all types of promotions are all part of the efforts to keep up with the online trend. Pecon, a Shanghai-based consulting firm which provides solutions for upgrading offline personal appearance stores, just finished its Series-B financing. 

The company said that when it comes to the upgrading and transformation of offline stores to better compete with online counterparts, there are things behind the scenes that customers may not normally see. Pecon’s CEO Ray said that the whole purpose of AR cosmetic magic mirrors is to increase interactions with the customer.

“There are many new technologies and devices that are being introduced. As you mentioned that the AR cosmetic magic mirrors and the big screen…which is making more fun, presenting their products in a better light. Meanwhile, [factors] such as upgrading the supply chain technology…is also the connection with the social media and online data resources that they can get consumers into the store better,” said Ray.

Retail experts said that the trend among offline stores is toward working better with their online counterparts. The aim is to increase offline sales volumes by sharing consumer data to better customize recommendations, eliminating offline-online price gaps, and introducing more cutting-edge technology to optimize consumers' shopping experiences.