All Sephora articles
French cosmetics giant Sephora was founded in France by Dominique Mandonnaud in 1970, offering a plethora of classic and emerging brands across a broad range of product categories including skincare, make-up, fragrance, body and haircare, in addition to Sephora’s own private label. Owned by LVMH, Sephora is highly regarded as a beauty trailblazer, thanks to its interactive shopping environment. Sephora operates approximately 2,700 stores in 35 countries worldwide.
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NewsGlossier signs exclusive UK retail partnership with Sephora
Glossier has entered its first retail partnership in the UK and will now be available in Sephora’s Westfield Shepherds Bush store as well as on Sephora’s website and app, from September 15.
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AnalysisStrategy spotlight: Five ways Sephora is set to disrupt the UK market
Sephora returned to the UK in March 2023 with its first store after a nearly 15-year hiatus. What has brought the global beauty specialist back for round two and what can other retailers learn from its return?
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NewsSephora to open second London store
French beauty retailer Sephora is set to open its second store in the UK in Westfield Stratford City, London.
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AnalysisInnovation of the Week: Sephora opens second ‘store of the future’ in Shanghai
Innovation of the Week is a subscriber-only series highlighting retail initiatives that have caught the eye of our analysts.
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Prospect AnalysisSephora (SWOT)
Having successfully grown its sales internationally through partnerships with Kohl’s and Zalando, could Sephora look for a like-minded UK partner? For instance, both John Lewis or Frasers Group have the reach and acumen to drive the brand forward in the UK.
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Prospect AnalysisSephora (Outlook)
Having exited the UK in 2005 under difficult market conditions, the retail landscape has shifted dramatically, with online enabling retailers to reach far more shoppers than previously. Sephora’s acquisition of FeelUnique will have given it ample customer numbers as its base in the UK, which will surely speed up its ambitions to grow market share in the country.
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Prospect AnalysisStores at Sephora
In March 2023, Sephora once again opened its doors in the UK with a 6,000 /sq ft store in Westfield, Shepherd’s Bush, London.
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Prospect AnalysisTechnology at Sephora
Sephora held its Sephoria: Virtual House of Beauty in the metaverse in August 2022. It featured an interactive beauty “house” with multiple rooms to explore, full of exclusive content from brands and influencers.
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Prospect AnalysisSephora (Strategy)
The beauty giant operates more than 30 ecommerce sites worldwide, with its UK website having relaunched in October 2022 after its extended UK hiatus - the retailer had exited the UK market in 2005.
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Prospect PeopleSephora (People)
Chris de Lapuente heads up LVMH’s selective retailing and beauty division (which Sephora sits under) as chief executive.
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Prospect AnalysisSephora (Financials)
LVMH reported total sales of €79.2bn (£67.5bn) for the year ending December 31, 2022 (FY2022). Within this, LVMH said Sephora achieved its strongest year ever with record sales and profits.
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Prospect AnalysisEcommerce at Sephora
Owner LVMH credits Sephora’s success to its customers being able to access Sephora at anytime, anywhere on any device (ATAWAD). This strategy is designed “to ensure that clients enjoy surprise and delight across each and every touch point of the brand”.
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Prospect AnalysisCustomer and marketing at Sephora
Marking its return to the UK, in October 2022 it partnered with creative agency AKQA to launch its “Express All of You” campaign.
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Prospect AnalysisSupply chain at Sephora
Within Europe, it partnered with Arvato to manage its retail logistics and ecommerce channels in Germany, Spain and Turkey, adding Poland and Czech Republic to Arvato’s roster to optimise its logistics systems and reduce customer delivery times.
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Prospect AnalysisSephora (Overview)
Having exited the UK in 2005, Sephora is once again attempting to get a foothold in the UK market. In September 2021, it acquired UK online beauty retailer Feelunique in a £132m deal, replacing its site with sephora.co.uk in October the following year.
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NewsSephora London store performing ‘300% better than expected’
The boss of Sephora owner LVMH’s selective retailing division has said its recently opened London store is performing more than 300% better than was predicted.
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NewsUK beauty sales driven by bricks and mortar as ecommerce falters
All beauty market gains came from in-store retail in 2022 as ecommerce sales across the whole economy in the UK fall to pre-pandemic levels, new research by the British Beauty Council has found.