Sephora - Visionary Beauty Retailer

Sephora Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Abstract Sephora is a visionary beauty retailer, which was established by Dominique Mandonnaud in Paris France. The retailer is known for its wide variety of product categories including body care, skin care, and smile care among others. The company is mainly focused on improving the customer’s experience through its innovative technologies. The company’s mission is to build a team of professionals who will serve the customers better, and because of this, much effort has been put to training employees. The customer focus approach has proved beneficial for Sephora since it has managed to increase its sales significantly over the past few years. The company’s strategy is centered on digitizing its brick and motor stores by equipping its stores with the latest technologies to improve customer experiences. Technology has helped Sephora to gather relevant information from clients which has been useful in understanding the customer behaviors and preferences. The use of technology, therefore has been the greatest benefit for Sephora. Keywords: Sephora, Beauty Sephora Introduction Sephora is a multinational company that is associated with the retail and lifestyle industry as it deals with beauty products and products for personal care. The company is a subsidiary of its parent company LVMH and was founded in 1970 by Dominique Mandonnaud, in Paris, France. Sephora has a wide range of products which range from smile care, skin care, makeup, body care, hair care, fragrance, and its own private label. Its main competitors include Richard Hudnut, ULTA, Clarins, Nordstrom, MAC, and Ales Group (Owler, 2019). ULTA is Sephora’s biggest competitor, with revenues of over 110 percent more than that generated by Sephora (Owler, 2019). In the U.S. market, competition for the $56 billion beauty industry is tied between ULTA and Sephora. In 2018, ULTA recorded an increase in sales of up to 17.4 percent, in the first quarter, which was equivalent to $1.5 billion in sales, and was high compared to that of Sephora at 9 percent (Danziger, 2018). The growth in sales has been attributed to the increase in brick and mortar stores across the state. The mission of the organization is aimed at establishing the most professional and skilled team of product advisors in the beauty sector who can recognize the various types of skin, use their knowledge to interrelate with the diverse range of customers at Sephora. Sephora uses an omnichannel which incorporates both online and in-store experiences. The company’s extensive research enabled them to realize that a majority of customers use their personal devices to search for outside recommendations when shopping at the retailer brick and motor stores (Aportland, 2017). Aside from its application, the company also uses mass merchandisers, drug stores and its brand site as channels of distributions. An online survey conducted in the U.S indicated that a majority of customers received the company’s products via mass merchandisers who account for a significant part of Sephora’s distribution channel, which is approximately 61 percent, while drug stores and the brand site cater for 46 percent and 45 percent respectively (Statistica, 2019). Sephora’s vision an...