CH1 Successful Beauty

                                                   

Chapter 1. Brief History about one 

of the most successful 

retail brand Sephora

   

   Sephora was founded in France in 1969 and acquired by Paris-based conglomerate LVMH in 1997. The Sephora is a chain of cosmetic stores includes more than 750 stores in 21 countries. It carries over 250 brands of items that include makeup, skin care, fragrance, bath, hair products, hair tools, and beauty accessories, including Sephora’s own private label
     

Dominique Mandonnaud opened the first Sephora store in Limoges in 1979. Her new conception of the store, that was based on the possibility of looking,  touching and discovering for the client, customers are allowed to compare different products to feel the different sensations they arouse. The new concept of store is really seducing and in 1979 Mandonnaud opened 10 new selling stores with “Shop8″ sign.

 In 1988 one store was opened in Paris. In 1993 the 11 perfumeries “Shop8″, already present in the country, added to the 38 Sephora stores, managed by the british society “Boots” opened in France by that moment. To open the dream’s and the luxury’s doors to everyone; a dream called “Mille et un Perfume” located in Bellè-Epin, a luxurious, chic and sober dream. Sephora brand imposed successful in 1994. 

The first Sephora store was opened in the year 1997 at New York. Marketing branches of this store were situated in New York City. San Francisco was the North American headquarters of this brand.

Sephora was highly appreciated by its buyers due to its policy of life-time return of products in case of customer dissatisfaction. In addition, the sampling program offered by the store for the customer to try out a variety of new cosmetic products became quite popular.

Some strategies of the successful beauty supplier 

Symbol of cheerfulness, freedom and elegance, Sephora is also the name of Moses’s second wife in the biblical tradition: a young and beautiful woman, who was clever, brave, generous and free as well. These attributes were highly aligned to the values of freedom, creativity and modernity spread by all Sephora stores.

Sephora has given itself a make-over. One of them a social and the other one is a mobile makeover. Sephora’s website now features an entirely new personalized online experience, mobile website, iPhone app and iOS devices in more than 100 stores. Sephora is also one of the first retail brands to fully integrate with Pinterest, adding “Pin It” buttons to every product and brand page.