Investment Rating - The report maintains an "Outperform" rating for the retail sector [3][58]. Core Insights - The retail industry is experiencing a low-level recovery with significant differentiation among individual stocks. The overall growth rate for the industry has shown a slight decline in the third quarter, with retail sales in the first nine months of 2025 reaching 365,877 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.5% [1][13]. - The beauty and personal care sector is facing pressure on profitability due to changes in e-commerce platform rules and a lack of innovative products. The gold and jewelry sector is performing well, driven by stable sales of fixed-price products. The cross-border e-commerce sector is showing positive growth, while offline retail continues to face challenges [2][34][42]. Summary by Sections Overall Industry Performance - The retail sector's growth has been relatively stable, with a year-on-year increase of 4.5% in retail sales for the first nine months of 2025. The growth rate has declined in the second half of the year due to a decrease in consumer purchasing power and the tapering of stimulus policies [1][13]. Beauty and Personal Care - The beauty sector's sales reached 328.82 billion yuan in the first three quarters of 2025, growing by 3.9% year-on-year. However, profitability has been under pressure due to weak product launches and changes in promotional strategies [22][28]. Gold and Jewelry - The gold and jewelry sector saw a significant year-on-year growth of 11.5% in retail sales, totaling 276.81 billion yuan in the first three quarters of 2025. The sector benefits from a low base from the previous year and rising gold prices, although profitability has faced challenges [34][41]. Cross-Border E-commerce - Cross-border e-commerce has shown a stable growth trajectory, with a total import and export value of approximately 2.06 trillion yuan in the first three quarters of 2025, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 6.4%. The sector's revenue grew by 15.15% in Q3 2025, driven by strong operational resilience among leading companies [42][48]. Offline Retail - The offline retail sector remains under pressure, with a year-on-year increase of only 3.5% in retail sales for the first three quarters of 2025. The overall revenue for the offline retail sector declined by 15.9% in Q3 2025, indicating ongoing challenges in the market [50][54].