More than just shopping
Sephora is a French cosmetics chain that makes people sit up and take notice all over the world.
The best way to identify a new store opening is from the inevitable crowds of people queuing up outside. Sephora is well known for having one of the most loyal followings out there – its very own social platform, the Beauty Insider Community, is always abuzz with countless customers exchanging info on the latest products at all hours of the day or night. It is also famously technologically minded.
Sephora uses augmented reality better – and has been doing so for longer – than the majority of its competitors. AR mirrors in its stores and an app to use at home let its customers try out different make-ups at the press of a button. And in 2015 the brand launched its free Beauty TIP workshops, with TIP standing for “teach, inspire, play”. This not only gives customers a chance to try out the products, it also exposes them to the rest of the range. Even if they do not end up committing to a purchase. Sephora knows that beauty is not a question of the product itself, but is all about a certain feeling that they want customers to take away with them: i.e. ‘they know what they are doing at Sephora, and I’ll definitely be telling my friends’.