Sephora Cosmetics Company: Background and Analysis

Sephora
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

Sephora
Background
In 1969, Sephora was established by Dominique Mandonnaud in France. The acquisition of Sephora by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton occurred in 1997. The primary idea behind the introduction of the company was to ensure that customers tried out various beauty products before they bought them. In particular, this strategy was unique, and Sephora was among the first beauty companies to adopt it. Mandonnaud grouped products by type since its brand name was not renowned at the moment. Today, Sephora is an international company dealing with beauty products. The firm employs around 30,000 employees and operates more than 2,600 stores in about 34 countries globally. Sephora has 460 outlets in the United States of America (USA). Besides, it opened its New York store in 1998, Mexican store in 2011, Canadian outlet in 2004, and the Brazilian store in 2012 (Sephora.com, 2019). Additionally, Sephora has an open-sell environment where customers are provided with over 250 different products range, such as hair care, fragrance, body and bath, skincare, makeup, and color (Dozen, 2015). The success of the company has been caused by various things starting from the introduction of the “Science of Sephora,” open-sell environment, and the provision of beauty products over the Internet. Other things that enable Sephora to continue growing and to enter new markets include the innovation, unparalleled assortment that has a prestigious range of products, high-quality services from beauty experts, and an interactive shopping environment. Forbes ranked Sephora as the Best Employer in 2019 and 2018 since its corporate practices and policies favor different types of employees, including disabled people, gay, transgender, lesbian, and bisexual.
Executive Summary
The paper focuses on Sephora, which is a multinational company that offers beauty products. The company provides its own brand and also collaborates with other relevant stakeholders in the fashion industry. In particular, the paper analyzes Sephora and shows how the company grew to become one of the most popular and biggest beauty stores globally. Some of the factors that have significantly contributed to the growth of Sephora are the provision of high-quality beauty products, emphasis on improving the customer shopping experience, and the establishment of an insider online community. Although the company encounters various challenges, it keeps improving to ensure that it is better than its competitors. Sephora does not take customers’ complaints for granted, which is the reason why it has grown over time to become one of the best-performing companies worldwide. Indeed, it offers a range of beauty products, and clients are allowed to try them out before purchasing. Millennials constitute the largest percentage of the Sephora customer base. Most importantly, proper operations management has accelerated the growth and expansion of Sephora without forgetting the culture of inclusivity and belongingness for both employees and customers.
Introduction
As the leader of the prestige Omni-retail, Sephora’s primary objective is to create an excellent beauty shopping experience for its customers worldwide. The company allows its clients to explore and try out different beauty products. Since 1998, the firm has been championing inclusivity, empowerment, and diversity in the USA and other parts of the world. Sephora has strong company values that promote teamwork, which is the reason why the firm treats its customers well. In 2019, it announced its manifesto and tagline, “We Belong to Something Beautiful” (Sephora.com, 2019). By doing so, the firm reinforces its dedication to enhancing a culture of belongingness not only for its employees but also for its clients in different parts of the world. Indeed, it has a social impact program that is meant to advance community inclusivity in the beauty and fashion industry. Sephora’s success in the fashion and beauty products is significantly contributed by effective operations management and the promotion of a culture of inclusivity and belongingness for both workers and customers.
Analysis
Operations management involves the proper administration of a firm’s practices to improve efficiency (Reid & Sanders, 2015). Specifically, Sephora gained its competitive advantage in the beauty industry by integrating different business models that enhance the customer experience. The primary objective of the beauty company is to handle its clients in the best way possible so that they can return in the future. As such, Sephora does not only focus on penetrating new territories worldwide, but it also caters to the specific needs of its clients. That is the reason why the firm is always one step ahead of its competitors due to the effectiveness of its services (Liu & Berger, 2018). When many companies expand and create a significant market share, they tend to forget about prioritizing consumers’ needs. However, Sephora is different and always treats its customers as its primary stakeholder. The company listens to them and improve its beauty products to meet their requirements. Consequently, Sephora understands that losing clients has detrimental effects on its performance and strategic decisions.
Other things that show Sephora’s effectiveness in operations management include Sephora.com, happening @ Sephora, beauty insider community, credit card, and Sephora Mobile. When other beauty retailers encountered a crisis in 2017, Sephora was not one of them since the company had implemented the right technology to market its products over the Internet (Holson, 2017). Sephora.com was launched in 1999, which is an online platform that enables t...