Thirty-five different countries, 2700 stores later, Sephora has finally announced that they will be opening their first store in the UK.
It is set to open in Spring 2023 in London.
As a beauty geek, I’m excited to see what is coming but unsure whether they will be able to bring anything different to the already crowded table.
Sephora was founded in 1970 and features hundreds of brands including Ardell, Rare Beauty, and Jouer Cosmetics.
What’s bothering me is, do we really need Sephora?
We’ve got Selfridges, Boots, John Lewis & Partners, Space NK and many more stand-alone premium beauty stores
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We’ve got discount codes, offers, and free gifts being thrown at us by every single beauty company, which makes it even more confusing to shop.
I clicked on the Boots website and headed straight to beauty, I was immediately struck by Black Friday deals, star gifts, and ‘deals for days’.
The John Lewis & Partners website has 20 per cent off makeup and skincare.
The Look Fantastic website has various percentages off numerous brands and a mystery sale where customers can enter a code and it will generate a discount for them.
Whilst the number of offers is amazing for our pockets, if I’m completely honest, it is worrying for the beauty industry.
What felt like premium beauty shopping now feels like a virtual market stall where market holders are screaming for our attention.
As a beauty consultant in a retail store myself, sales have been harder to make in a cost-of-living crisis, competition is fierce and shoppers are moving online
Customers are not loyal anymore and adding another competitor into the physical market, might make this even more complicated.
Sephora’s online site launched in the UK on October 17.
The great thing is, there will be more stock for us beauty lovers if our favourite products are out of stock elsewhere.
There is a greater brand variety on their website and brands that I’ve never even heard of, which I will definitely be investigating.
The opening of the store will create more jobs which is always a bonus.
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Sephora also offers a loyalty programme which offers benefits such as cash rewards, samples, and access to events.
However, it is worth noting that most beauty brands such as Chanel and Lancôme already offer similar programmes directly from their brand.
Sephora has created a ‘Beauty Insider Community’ with over three million members.
This is an exciting prospect as it lets us join a beauty community to ask questions, keep up with trends, find out tips, and discuss products.
Whilst Sephora made the decision to not open in the UK for all these years, our current UK stores have evolved.
They have had the time and experience to get to know us as customers, identify what brands we love and adapt to a post-Covid market.
For example, in recent years, Boots have started to stock Kylie Cosmetics, Huda Beauty, and Bobbi Brown.
In my opinion, Sephora is incredibly late to the market and there is just so much competition.
Retailers are already stocking the top beauty brands and have had a chance to build relationships with their customers.
I hope Sephora brings something different to the UK and that they focus on brands that aren’t already available and bring the buzz back to in-store beauty services.
Sephora’s name holds a lot of weight in the beauty and retail industry and I hope that after the initial buzz of their launch, they keep things fresh and offer us something unique.
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