On October 1, the first day of the National Day holiday, 37 new Plant Doctor stores opened simultaneously across multiple regions nationwide.

Among them, five high-end Black Gold stores also launched on the same day, with one each in Chongqing, Guizhou, and Lanzhou, and two in Chengdu.

From core coastal commercial districts to county-level markets in central and western China, from shopping malls to street-level shops and department stores, all 37 locations opened their doors to customers on the same day.

For a beauty brand that has been deeply cultivating offline channels for 32 years, this concentrated store opening represents not just an increase in store count, but also further densification of Plant Doctor's nationwide offline service network.

At a time when the beauty industry continues to discuss online traffic, instant retail, and AI entry points, Plant Doctor has still chosen to double down on physical retail.

The underlying judgment is this: the way consumers discover brands is changing, but the core elements of the beauty industry—experience, service, and trust—have not disappeared as a result.

Plant Doctor founder Xie Yong previously stated: "If there's a problem with the product, customers can find you. This is the most fundamental strength of a physical store."

37 stores opening on the same day tests an entire offline operating system

In recent years, beauty consumption channels have continued to evolve.

Online platforms such as Douyin, Xiaohongshu, and instant retail are constantly reshaping how consumers access brand information and complete purchasing decisions, while traditional offline retail also faces real challenges such as customer traffic divergence and the need to improve operational efficiency.

In this industry environment, Plant Doctor continues to expand its offline network.

From Plant Doctor's perspective, the value of physical stores is changing.

In the past, stores primarily served the functions of product display and sales; today, as consumers increasingly habitually complete information gathering, product comparison, and even purchasing decisions online, what stores need to provide is the experience, service, and trust that online channels cannot fully replace.

The 37 stores that opened in a concentrated manner during the National Day holiday also reflect a clear characteristic of Plant Doctor's current offline layout: core cities and county-level markets advancing together, with quality commercial districts and lower-tier markets being densified simultaneously.

Cities such as Shanghai, Shenzhen, Suzhou, and Hangzhou continue to secure prime positions in shopping malls; county-level street shops in Henan, Hunan, Sichuan, Gansu, Guizhou, and other provinces are being expanded simultaneously; new stores have also landed in areas such as Kashgar and Jiashi in Xinjiang, and Guide in Qinghai.

From the eastern coast to western markets, from first- and second-tier cities to county townships, an offline network with deep coverage across different market tiers is being further densified.

Having 37 stores complete their openings on the same day tests not just the speed of store openings, but whether an offline operating system can be replicated at scale.

A new store requires coordination across multiple stages, from site selection to renovation, product allocation, staff training, and official opening.

When dozens of stores open simultaneously, it places higher demands on the brand's channel management, supply chain support, and organizational coordination capabilities.

After 32 years of deep offline cultivation, Plant Doctor has gradually developed a standardized store opening system covering site selection, renovation, staff training, and supply chain support.

The simultaneous opening of 37 stores is also a concentrated demonstration of its channel replication capability and organizational scheduling ability.

Meanwhile, five Black Gold stores opened simultaneously on the first day of the National Day holiday.

As a key upgraded offline format for Plant Doctor in recent years, Black Gold stores are no longer just product sales spaces in the traditional sense, but rather further strengthen brand culture and service expression around alpine plants, Eastern aesthetics, and immersive experiences.

From regular stores to Black Gold stores, Plant Doctor is answering a new offline proposition: when consumers can already complete a large amount of information gathering and product purchasing online, what else can physical stores provide?

The answer is shifting from "selling products" to "providing experiences, building trust, and connecting users."

Online handles reach, offline handles trust

Continuing to open stores does not mean Plant Doctor is still operating with traditional offline retail methods.

As consumer touchpoints continue to change, Plant Doctor is also redefining the value of this network of more than 4,400 stores.

Currently, Plant Doctor is forming an omnichannel operating model of "online traffic generation—offline conversion—private domain retention."

Online platforms such as Douyin group buying, Xiaozhi Mall, and Meituan primarily handle consumer reach and service customer acquisition, while the nationwide network of physical stores is responsible for experience, service, and trust building.

Previously, Plant Doctor launched in-store service packages priced from 29.9 yuan on online platforms such as Douyin and Meituan, which have cumulatively sold over 500,000 orders and are redeemable at more than 4,000 stores.

This model has validated one thing: when online platforms bring new consumer demand, a sufficiently broad and deep offline network can serve as the receiving end for online traffic to truly land.

On the eve of the National Day holiday, Plant Doctor further extended this logic to AI scenarios, connecting its global network of more than 4,400 stores to Alipay's AI ecosystem.

After consumers submit skincare needs through Alipay's AI-related entry points, they can be further connected to offline store services.

In the past, consumers might have discovered a brand through search boxes, e-commerce platforms, or short videos; now, AI is becoming a new demand entry point.

But no matter how entry points change, they ultimately need real products, experiences, and services to carry them through.

Therefore, AI and physical stores are not in a substitutive relationship.

AI solves "finding," while stores solve "staying."

For Plant Doctor, more than 4,400 stores are gradually transforming from traditional sales terminals into offline interfaces between online traffic, AI demand, and consumer services.

Online is responsible for improving connection efficiency, while offline is responsible for completing experience and trust building.

This is also an important rationale behind Plant Doctor's continued investment in offline channels.

As traffic becomes increasingly expensive, the value of stores is being redefined

To date, Plant Doctor has more than 4,400 stores globally and over 33.9 million members.

The simultaneous opening of 37 new stores and 5 Black Gold stores during this National Day holiday, with locations spanning from core coastal cities to county-level markets in central and western China, has further densified Plant Doctor's nationwide store network.

But if this is understood merely as a channel expansion, it may not be enough to explain why Plant Doctor continues to invest in offline channels.

As online traffic becomes increasingly expensive and consumer touchpoints become increasingly fragmented, the truly scarce resources for beauty brands are also changing.

In the past, the product itself might have been scarce; later, traffic became the scarce resource; today, when traffic can be purchased through platforms, what brands truly need to accumulate over the long term is consumer trust.

And physical stores are precisely the most concrete carrier of this trust.

Consumers can walk into a store, experience products, receive services, and find the brand when problems arise.

For a brand with thousands of stores, the significance of this network is therefore no longer just a sales channel.

It is both a face-to-face touchpoint between the brand and consumers, a receiving network for online traffic, and a service capability that accumulates over the long term and is difficult to replicate in a short period.

In the past, online handled reach, and offline handled trust; today, AI lets consumers find the brand, and stores let consumers stay.

Behind the simultaneous opening of 37 new stores, what Plant Doctor is truly doubling down on is not just store count, but a consumer service and trust network that covers the entire country and reaches deep into counties and communities.

When products are no longer scarce and the ways consumers discover brands are constantly changing, the value of physical stores is also being redefined.

For Plant Doctor, which has cultivated offline channels for 32 years, the answer remains clear: where consumers discover brands can change, but no matter how entry points evolve, the brand must ultimately let consumers "find you."