I have been working in the health & beauty business for several years, and I find it very interesting. The wide range of brand, and the opportunities to grow new categories is very challenging.
One of the hypest trend of the make up business right now is what we call "contouring". What is it?
Contouring used to be a professional techniques needing a lot of expertise in order to use. But a lot of the mass market make up brands decided to propose products to contour. Nevertheless, due to the technicity of these products, they are hard to sell.
This is the reason why Sephora has worked on a new store concept in order to help customers try these new techniques.
“That’s where Sephora comes into play,” said McDonald. “When you demystify, people feel empowered to buy. This translates into her being more engaged in beauty, and that translates into her buying more items.”
Also featured alongside the workshop is Sephora’s digital Beauty Board, a shoppable screen that plays user-generated content coinciding with current trends. Visitors who sit down at the station can watch the looks go by for inspiration, and then pick up the exact products used. Customers can also share their beauty routines and accompanying products to stream on the board. A “People Like Me” search function filters the content stream to show specific skin tones, hair textures and more.
“It’s not digital for the sake of digital,” said McDonald. “It’s a combination of products, services and teachable moments that support our customers’ missions.”
More features in the new San Francisco store include fragrance identifier InstaScent (previously called Poof) that spritzes raw notes of a perfume to help customers decide which defining scent they’re most attracted to (McDonald noted that fragrance is one of Sephora’s under-performing categories). Digital Trend Tables show which online products are most popular and best-selling in real time.
This is a good example on how category management could be leveraged in store to develop new product categories.
