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 and strategy have greatly influenced their customer service management and sales. The company’s vision is to build the most professional and knowledgeable team of product consultants in the beauty industry. To achieve this vision, Sephora has greatly adopted an innovation. The introduction of the Beauty TIP stores in 2015 was a strategy devised by the company to ‘teach, inspire and play’ (Halzack, 2015). The stores feature a range of technological devices meant for offering beauty advice that their clients can experience with the help of store associates. The associates of the store are also knowledgeable and fun to interact with, which is a good strategy for winning over customers. The concept of ‘teach, inspire and play’ is aimed at enhancing customer interaction whereby clients can experiment with various products and brands with the help of associates before selecting the most appealing products. Additionally, as part of the company’s vision of building professionals, the company has set up classes for customers to teach about basic skin and beauty care to other complex beauty techniques (Salpini, 2017). Analysis of Personal Selling and Sales Management Approach Personal selling is an important aspect of Sephora’s strategy. This process involves using the sales force to promote the company’s products through their knowledge, attitude, and appearance. Sephora highly values relationship selling, which is the most important means of promoting their products. The company prepares every employee to be the best at interacting with clients and making good relations with every customer that comes to shop at their brick and mortar store, or even online. The company provides its employees with high-end training using the company’s best education ambassador (Curran, 2018). This tactic is essential in increasing the company’s clientele. Aside from the staff at their physical locations, Sephora also adopted a strategy of open and honest two-way conversation which falls in line with the company’s tagline’ Let’s beauty together’ (Sonsev, 2018). The company uses social media as a platform to interact one on one with their clients by engaging in two-way conversations with them. Deborah Yeh, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Branding at Sephora, explained that one of the many ways of promoting the two way conversation sis by hosting live social media events with the founders of the brand, and ask them questions, then give room for the customers to ask questions as well (Somsev, 2018). The social platform is an important part of the company’s personalization strategy of sales management. The use of social channels enables Sephora to monitor their customer’s behavior, demographics and preferences, in order to personalize their experiences. Achieving this requires the company to acquire relevant data and permissions. The process of personalization requires trust and loyalty because the customer is in control of their data and this trust enables the clients to easily give the company permission. Through the incorporation of technology in their Beauty TIP stores, the company has created a personalized environment for customers to experiment with different products and interact with the company’s associates. Additionally, the company’s Omni-channel plays a big role in its sales management approach. The growth in online sales together with retail locations is attributed to the unique spin of their online network which hosts live events, advertises beauty classes, makeover events, and an annual conference. The online interactive platform allows for the collaboration of various individuals including influencers, celebrities, and patrons, who take part in discussions about beauty (Cah, 2018). Moreover, different social channels serve different purposes for the company. For instance, with Instagram, Sephora uses live posts and stories while on Facebook, the company posts live coverage and wishbone for polls and quizzes that allow customers to vote for their best beauty looks. These strategies are meant to entice the customer towards buying the company’s products, thus acting as a proper means of increasing sales. Through these events and strategies, the company is able to gain the attention of a wide range of customers. As explained by Deborah Yeh, “By fostering personal connections and generating brand love over the years, it’s only natural that we leverage their input and further strengthen our program beyond just perks and discounts” (Stansbury, 2018). Analysis of Customer Services and Customer Turnoffs. The customer experience at Sephora stores is highly personalized with a host of innovative tools. With the belief that ‘beauty is yours to define and ours to celebrate’ the company considers personalization to be the core of every client’s decision (Stewart, 2018). As stated by Raghu Sagi, the Chief Engineering Officer at Sephora, “Every customer has a highly unique perspective and a personal view of their beauty,” and that “We should be able to provide her a lot of tools that are personalized across all channels. That’s our goal, to be able to make her experience better as well as find a perfect fit for her needs” (Stewart, 2018). By knowing what the customer wants, the company has developed seamlessly cross channels to enhance customer services and experience. The company’s customer service can, therefore, be defined by its organizational system, policies, and culture, as well as individual actions. Organizational systems, culture, and policies incorporate; the aesthetics and display at the stores, internal layout and spacing of stores, the packaging and presentation of products, and the personalized Omni-channel experience. Whereas, the individual actions are dictated by the in-store staff. Organizational Systems, Culture and Policy. The company’s stores have display windows that offer a variety of activities. The stores feature the name of the brand in colorful lighting with the tagline beside it. The inclusion of snappy expressions and images of models wearing some of their top products is also prevalent in their stores which is in line with the company’s mission of making people look beautiful and bold. The stores feature a range of products and other services such as hair styling, mini makeover, and beauty classes which enhance the customer’s experience. Moreover, the stores feature a virtual try-on system that allows customers to try out various products which help them make good decisions and quickly (Taladay, 2018). This unique culture of empowering the consumer and encouraging boldness is prevalent in their stores and online platforms. Other customer services offered by the company are subscriptions and beauty samples. In 2018, the company introduced a new type of beauty box called ‘Play Smarts’ that has six deluxe samples and an information card concerning the products (Beauty Packaging, 2018). The purchase of these boxes enables the buyer to access free online classes as well. The company’s mobile application also forms part of the customer service. The company’s mobile application transforms into the store’s companion tool, by offering clients the right information and product recommendation based on their previous selections (Stewart, 2018). Individual Actions The company’s retail workers undergo vigorous training to have enough knowledge of the products sold by the company. Thei...