How Sephora Revolutionized Makeup Consumption | WSJ The Economics Of

Summary

Sephora has transformed the makeup industry from a commission-based model to a self-service haven, revolutionizing the way consumers test and purchase beauty products. With roots dating back to 1969 in France, Sephora's innovative approach to retail, brand inclusivity, and loyalty programs have helped it climb to the top of the beauty market globally. By offering exclusive products, featuring diverse brands, and expanding partnerships, Sephora not only enhances customer experience but also cements its leadership in the prestige beauty space.

Highlights

• Sephora revolutionized the makeup industry by adopting an assisted self-service model. ✨
• Brand agnostic beauty advisors provide unbiased product recommendations. 🌐
• Exclusive products and brand leverage set Sephora apart from competitors. 🏆
• The Beauty Insider loyalty program has over 25 million members! 🚻
• Sephora's inclusivity introduces diverse beauty brands and products. 🌍
• Major expansion through partnerships with Kohl’s and other retailers. 🏬

Key Takeaways

• Sephora transformed makeup shopping into a self-serve paradise! 🛍️
• No more pushy sales reps—Sephora's beauty advisors offer unbiased advice. 👩‍💼
• Sephora's mergers with LVMH supercharged its ability to set trends. 🚀
• The exclusive Sephora Collection gives it immense market power. 🌟
• Inclusive beauty with a wide range of products for all skin tones. 🌈
• Sephora's loyalty program tracks purchases for personalized marketing. 📊
• Their partnership with Kohl's is expanding their market reach. 🔗

Overview

Sephora has completely turned the makeup retail world on its head by offering a self-service shopping model. Gone are the days of waiting behind a counter. Instead, customers are free to roam, test, and trial as much makeup as they please—a revolution in the beauty aisle! This shift from commission-based sales to brand-agnostic beauty advisors allows for a more customer-centric experience. Who knew makeup shopping could be this fun?

The acquisition of Sephora by luxury giant LVMH propelled it even further with the power to not only adapt to trends but also shape them. Featuring exclusive products and securing leverage over brands, Sephora has mastered the art of balance between exclusivity and mass-market appeal. It’s no wonder everyone’s eager to display their Sephora hauls on social media!

Inclusivity is at the core of Sephora’s mission, pushing for diversity in beauty products and supporting black-owned brands. Combined with strategic partnerships, like with Kohl’s, Sephora continues to expand its reach, bringing its prestige beauty offers to more consumers than ever. Sephora's growth strategy is anything but skin-deep—it’s a transformative journey to global beauty dominance.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to Sephora's Impact on the Makeup Industry This chapter explores Sephora's transformative impact on the makeup industry. Before Sephora, luxury makeup shopping in America involved brand representatives assisting customers behind counters. Sephora revolutionized this experience by eliminating barriers, allowing customers to freely test products and explore options without seeking permission or waiting for assistance. The chapter delves into how Sephora, a French retailer, rose to global prominence in the personal care market.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Sephora's Business Model and International Reach Sephora is an industry leader in the beauty product sector. It employs over 36,000 people across 2,700 stores in more than 35 countries, offering products from over 250 beauty brands. The chapter explores the company's business model and international reach.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Origins of Sephora and Innovation in Retail The chapter titled 'Origins of Sephora and Innovation in Retail' discusses the beginnings of Sephora, tracing back to a small perfume shop opened in 1969 in Limoges, France. At a time when the perfume and cosmetics industry was mainly service-based with staff working on commission, Sephora introduced an innovative 'assisted self-service' model. This revolutionary approach allowed customers the freedom to experiment with products directly in the store. Customers could try on lipsticks and eyeshadows at their leisure, providing a personalized shopping experience.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Sephora's Assisted Self-Service Model Sephora has implemented an assisted self-service model, where customers can seek the help of a beauty advisor if needed. These advisors, being brand-agnostic, offer unbiased advice, suggesting products from different brands tailored to customer needs. Additionally, Sephora has adopted a unique approach in product display, placing similar make-up items together rather than organizing them strictly by brand, bucking traditional retail conventions.
• 02:00 - 02:30: Sephora's Brand Agnostic Approach and Product Display Sephora's retail methodology includes a brand agnostic product display, where products from the same category, such as skincare, are grouped together rather than by brand. This approach facilitates easier comparison and accessibility for consumers within each category.
• 02:30 - 03:00: Sephora's Acquisition by LVMH and Brand Strategy Sephora's acquisition by LVMH has strategically positioned it to leverage exclusive product lines, such as Fenty Beauty, enhancing its market dominance in the beauty industry. The success of Sephora is significantly attributed to these exclusive relationships, allowing the company to wield considerable influence over makeup brands that competitively seek presence within its stores. These exclusive partnerships present a unique dynamic, where Sephora has more control in the store-brand relationship, significantly impacting how high-end beauty brands navigate their market strategies amidst new challenges.
• 03:00 - 03:30: Exclusivity and Product Lines at Sephora The chapter discusses Sephora's increasing reliance on its exclusive product lines for sales growth and how it competes with beauty brands produced by LVMH, which affects shelf space for other brands. Despite this competition, product exclusivity contributes to Sephora's loyal customer base, fueled by social media trends such as Instagram and TikTok haul videos showcasing product purchases.
• 03:30 - 04:00: Sephora's Loyal Customer Base and Beauty Insider Program The chapter discusses Sephora's loyal customer base, highlighting how many customers are part of the Beauty Insider program. This program has over 25 million members and is divided into three tiers. The lowest level is the Beauty Insider, followed by the VIB, or Very Important Beauty Insider. The chapter also includes a discussion about specific products, such as the KOSAS tinted face oil, which is recommended despite its higher price point of $42.
• 04:00 - 04:30: Data Collection and Marketing Strategy The chapter titled 'Data Collection and Marketing Strategy' highlights Sephora's tiered beauty rewards program. The program has different levels, each with its own spending requirements and benefits. For instance, there's a top level called 'Rouge,' which customers can reach by spending at least $1000 in a calendar year. An important advantage for Sephora is the data collection aspect. By using the rewards program, Sephora can track customer purchases, which provides valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences.
• 04:30 - 05:00: Inclusivity and Diversity in Sephora's Product Range The chapter discusses Sephora's commitment to inclusivity and diversity in its product range. Although the brand profits from exclusivity, it makes significant efforts to be inclusive towards its consumer base. This is achieved by increasing the number of brands featured in their stores, particularly focusing on including black-owned brands, and encouraging brands to broaden their product lines to cater to a diverse audience.
• 05:00 - 05:30: Sephora's Technological Innovations and Expansion Sephora has implemented a technology named Color IQ, which helps in matching an individual's skin tone to provide the most natural product recommendations. This move caters to the diverse ethnicities and racial groups, aligning with their strategy to appeal to a wider audience. Additionally, as part of Sephora's expansion efforts, they have partnered with Kohl's to install 850 shops inside Kohl's stores by 2023. This collaboration signifies Sephora's growth and presence in more retail locations.
• 05:30 - 06:00: Sephora's Partnership with Kohl's and Vision for the Future Sephora expanded its presence by opening 200 new locations within Kohl's stores this summer, resulting in 200,000 new Beauty Insider members. The company's spokesperson emphasized Sephora's ambition to become a global leader in the prestige beauty sector and to drive transformational opportunities. The vision focuses on three main areas: enhancing customer experience, supporting brands, and empowering teams. A challenge noted was that occasionally customers leave with makeup residue on their arms.

How Sephora Revolutionized Makeup Consumption | WSJ The Economics Of Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 (upbeat music) - There really is a before and after Sephora, when it comes to the makeup industry. - [Narrator] Until about 20 years ago, this is how most Americans shopped for luxury makeup. A sales representative of the brand would stand behind the makeup counter and help customers make a purchase. - That completely changed with Sephora. Now it's a free for all, people walk in the stores, they test whatever they want, nothing is behind the glass. - [Narrator] So, how did this French retailer come to dominate the global personal care
• 00:30 - 01:00 and beauty product industry and what business practices helped make it the industry leader that it is today? This is the Economics of Sephora. Today, the beauty retailer employs over 36,000 people in more than 2,700 stores, in over 35 countries. Those stores carry over 250 beauty brands. - [Man] At this point, Sephora's like kind of my second home. - [Narrator] The Sephora that we know today has its roots
• 01:00 - 01:30 in a small perfume shop that opened in 1969 in Limoges, France. At that time, the perfume and cosmetics market was dominated by a service-based retail model in which staff typically received commissions based on sales. Instead, Sephora used the assisted self service model, in which customers are free to test products in the store. - You have a full where you can just like literally grab whatever and you can try on the lipsticks, you can try in the eye shadows. I always leave looking like a literal different person
• 01:30 - 02:00 than I arrive. - [Narrator] Sephora customers can still request help from a sales associate who Sephora calls a beauty advisor. - A little bit more trust with the sales representatives in a Sephora store, because they're brand agnostic. So they can tell you, maybe you should buy the mascara from this brand, but you should buy the blush from a different brand. - [Narrator] Sephora also bucked convention in the manner in which it displayed its products. - [Woman] So make-up items are next to each other. Whereas from the same brand, a fragrance would be in the fragrance aisle.
• 02:00 - 02:30 From the same brand, a skincare product would be in the skincare isle. - [Narrator] Then in 1997, founder Dominique Mandonnaud sold Sephora to the large luxury retail conglomerate, LVMH. - One of the advantages of being owned by a conglomerate like LVMH, is that the company can jump very quickly on trends. And actually, several of the brands that are sold in Sephora stores are owned by LVMH. - [Narrator] One of the popular brands owned by LVMH is Fenty Beauty by Rihanna. - [Woman 2] And then Fenty of course has a huge section.
• 02:30 - 03:00 The whole row of Fenty, we got the lip glosses up front. - [Narrator] Sephora's success also stems from its exclusive line of products. - There's a little bit of a tension in the relationship between a store and a brand. Because Sephora is such a hot store for makeup brands to sell their products in, Sephora ends up having a lot more leverage in that relationship. - [Woman 3] The Sephora collection. - [Woman] The challenge for high-end beauty brands these days is that they're really facing a conundrum.
• 03:00 - 03:30 They've become increasingly dependent on Sephora for sales growth, but because LVMH also produces beauty brands and there's an element of competition there, and more brands are coming out constantly. The shelf space is shrinking. - [Woman 4] Five Sephora products you need to try part 10. - [Narrator] In part due to that product exclusivity, Sephora boasts a loyal customer base. - Here are five Sephora products you need to buy tonight. Sorry, I don't make the rules you just have to. - So what you'll find oftentimes on Instagram or TikTok, is that people have these haul videos where they're showing all the products that they bought
• 03:30 - 04:00 in Sephora, and they're going one by one, talking about them. - [Man] This is the KOSAS tinted face oil, and it's $42. I recommend this product to everyone and they're always like I'm paying $42 for a face oil, yes you are. - [Narrator] Many faithful customers are members of Sephora's Beauty Insider program, which has three different tiers and more than 25 million members. The lowest tier is the Beauty Insider. The next level up is VIB, or Very Important Beauty Insider,
• 04:00 - 04:30 which users must spend $350 in a calendar year to unlock. The top level is called Rouge, which customers can access after spending at least $1000 in a calendar year. Benefits like savings increase with each tier. - I'm Rouge, don't judge me, I know I spend a lot of money. Okay, I get it. - But the real advantage for Sephora for the beauty rewards program is that every time a customer goes in there, Sephora knows exactly what they bought. And that is very valuable information for the company to understand who the customer is,
• 04:30 - 05:00 what they're purchasing and then down the road, be able to market in a very personalized way to that customer. - [Narrator] Yet as much as the company profits on exclusivity with its products, when it comes to Sephora's consumer base, the retailer takes inclusivity seriously. - One of the ways that Sephora has tried to become more inclusive is by featuring a larger number of brands in their stores, they've made an effort to include black owned brands, and then also by pushing brands to expand their product lines and offer products
• 05:00 - 05:30 that appeal to people from different racial groups, different ethnicities. - [Narrator] In 2021, Sephora relaunched Color IQ, a skin tone matching technology. The company offers to assist customers in selecting the most natural products for their skin tone. - [Woman 5] All the products that would be your exact color. - [Narrator] And Sephora is still expanding. In December 2020, the company announced a partnership with the department chain Kohl's, to install 850 shops inside Kohl's stores by 2023.
• 05:30 - 06:00 Since opening 200 Kohl's locations this summer, Sephora has added 200,000 new Beauty Insiders. in a statement to the Wall Street Journal, a Sephora spokesperson said, we want to be an unequivocal global leader in the prestige beauty space and a purpose driven brand that is a transformative opportunity for everyone we touch. They continued by outlining three main areas, customers, brands and teams. - Sometimes when customers step outside of the Sephora store, they will have splotches of makeup all over their arms.
• 06:00 - 06:30 And that really showcases what they've been doing in this store. (gentle music)