Ushopal Puts a Number on Its Global Ambitions, and a Timeline on Remaking Payot

Ushopal Group, the Chinese beauty and retail house founded in 2017, has put a number on its ambitions for the first time. Founder and CEO Lu Guo disclosed that its brands and activities now represent nearly 200 million euros ($224 million) in global retail value, roughly 1.5 billion yuan, as the group lays out a five-part strategy to turn itself into a global beauty platform rather than a China-focused distributor.

The disclosure came at the TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes, where Ushopal brought three portfolio brands, Payot, ARgENTUM and Bonpoint, to the same industry event for the first time. Lu used the platform to describe the group's model as combining European heritage with what she called China-developed strength in technology, data and speed. "We are not building a fund that simply collects assets," Lu said. "We are building an engine capable of developing brands. In the long term, our ambition is to build a truly global beauty group."

The scale disclosure matters because it shows how much of Ushopal's business now sits outside China. China and international markets each account for roughly half of current activity, and Lu wants that balance to tilt further outward. "We never built Ushopal around the idea that China should represent 80% of our business," she said. "On the contrary, our objective is to become a truly global group, with approximately 60-65% of our business ultimately generated outside China." The group employs 110 people in Paris and 160 in Shanghai supporting that global portfolio.

Payot sits at the center of the near-term plan. Ushopal acquired the French skincare house in 2025 and is now repositioning it around science and efficacy rather than the lifestyle branding tied to its French identity. Lu called Payot "a gem that needs to be undusted," adding that "its legitimacy comes from efficacy, science and its historic skincare expertise. The product is already there; our job now is to explain more clearly why it works."

That repositioning has concrete production implications. Payot sells in around 70 countries, generates about 70% of its business outside France, and draws roughly 30% of sales through spas and beauty institutes, while its skincare products remain entirely manufactured in France. From 2027, Ushopal plans to change Payot's packaging to carry quantified efficacy claims, such as percentage improvements in hydration drawn from product testing, and to target consumers aged 25 to 35 with messaging on stress, fatigue and hormonal changes, while retaining the brand's existing base of women in their 40s, 50s and 60s who engage through beauty institutes.

China is where that bet gets tested on a longer runway. Payot has already run a soft launch there to build awareness and identify which products resonate, and Ushopal plans to increase investment in the market starting in 2027 with a deliberately narrow portfolio. Lu argued that China's beauty market has matured past the point where mass offline expansion and reliance on influencers can drive growth on their own, and said overlooking domestic Chinese brands, which she said are now investing heavily in research, ingredients and packaging while moving upmarket, would be a strategic mistake for any international player.

Technology investment is the fourth priority, and it is shaped by a market where content moves fast: Ushopal's research found some mass-market beauty brands in China producing up to 1,000 pieces of content a week, with some platforms giving content a lifecycle of just seven days. For its premium brands, Ushopal is building AI systems it calls super agents, trained on each brand's archives, tone of voice and aesthetic codes, aimed at increasing content output without diluting brand consistency.

The fifth priority, acquisitions, is where Ushopal is signaling restraint rather than expansion for its own sake. Lu said the group is targeting roughly one major transaction every two years, paced by its capacity to integrate what it already owns. She named science-led skincare, scalp care and anti-hair-loss products, and supplements and longevity as areas under consideration, while flagging fragrance as a more cautious prospect given how high valuations have climbed in that category.