(Yicai) April 16 -- French cosmetics retailer Sephora has appointed Ding Xia as the general manager of its China division, after the post stayed vacant for almost three months.

Ding has already taken up her new role and will report directly to Alia Gogi, the president of the Asia region, Sephora said yesterday. She replaces Maggie Chan, who stepped down in January after six years in the position.

Sephora, which has been in China for 20 years, has been faced with growing competition in recent years from local cosmetics chains which become the preferred choice of local beauty brands that are growing in popularity for Chinese consumers.

There has been speculation in the market that Chan’s resignation was a step taken by Neuilly-sur-Seine-based Sephora to find a leader who can better adapt to the demands of the Chinese market.

Before joining Sephora, Ding served as vice president of e-commerce for Nike in the Asia Pacific and Latin America regions. She also spent 20 years at HanesBrands, a US apparel maker, before moving on to become vice president of the US’ Nielsen Media Research and then president of Chinese e-retailer JD.com’s fashion and lifestyle business group.

Last year, Sephora racked up losses for the second year in a row, with a deficit of CNY140 million (USD19.3 million) on revenue of CNY8.7 billion (USD1.2 billion), according to the financial reports of its partners. This is a big drop from the peak revenue of CNY10.8 billion (USD1.5 billion) it achieved in 2021.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor