Beyond beauty counters: How Singapore malls are reinventing beauty shopping

Raffles City, she added, is on a similar trajectory, with continued interest in niche brands, specialised services and personalised experiences, alongside a greater appreciation for brand heritage and storytelling.

Taken together, the changes point to a different role for beauty within the mall. The competition with online shopping is not simply about who can sell the same lipstick, serum or fragrance more conveniently. Increasingly, the physical store is offering something else entirely: a place to learn how to use it, find out whether it suits you, have a treatment, meet an expert or turn its launch into an occasion.

That makes beauty particularly suited to what malls are trying to become – places that give shoppers reasons to spend time there, rather than simply places to transact.

As Tan puts it: “Consumers want to participate in beauty, not simply browse it.”