{"id":17337,"date":"2016-11-18T16:13:07","date_gmt":"2016-11-18T21:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/sephora-who-wants-a-virtual-makeover\/"},"modified":"2016-11-18T16:13:07","modified_gmt":"2016-11-18T21:13:07","slug":"sephora-who-wants-a-virtual-makeover","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/sephora-who-wants-a-virtual-makeover\/","title":{"rendered":"Sephora: Who wants a virtual makeover?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all used Snapchat and tried their bizarre filters that make us look like puppies. Now imagine, ladies, wouldn\u2019t it be great if we could have filters that show us what different lipstick shades look on us? Swipe right, bright pink lipstick by Chanel. Swipe right again, nude lips by NARS. <\/em>Well, Sephora has done just that. And in doing so, it is slowly revolutionizing\u2014or should I say, technologizing\u2014the beauty cosmetics industry.<\/p>\n

Sephora\u2019s Customer Experience-Centric Business Model <\/strong><\/p>\n

Founded in the 1960s in Paris, Sephora is a beauty business that has come to globally dominate an industry traditionally controlled by department stores. Its secret sauce was its \u201cself-service\u201d concept: consumers could touch and test its products, without the meditation\u00a0of a salesperson, hence transforming its stores into interactive, fun spaces.[1]<\/a> This model underscored Sephora\u2019s fundamental value proposition of providing customers with unique, interactive and personalized beauty shopping experiences.[2]<\/a> The wild success of this model has led to the development of 1,900 locations in 30 countries.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

\"In<\/a>
In Sephora’s self-service model, shoppers can directly try and test make up products to have their own personalized experience.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sixty years later, instead of shying away from technology, Sephora has embraced it. Technology could be used to support Sephora\u2019s value proposition by using bold innovations to further enhance the personalized beauty experience. CEO Christopher de Lapuente remarked, \u201cInnovation definitely figures at the very heart of Sephora. We constantly challenge ourselves to discover new and better ways to make the customer experience even more inspiring.\u201d[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

Sephora\u2019s Operating Model: Delivering a \u2018Technologized\u2019 Beauty Experience <\/strong><\/p>\n

Sephora is now using technology to take their value proposition (and entire business) to a new level. Here are several tech initiatives Sephora has implemented in its operating model that further allow customers to have the unique experience of testing luxury beauty products:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Sephora Mobile<\/strong>: While a mobile app isn\u2019t earth-shattering, Sephora\u2019s is the gateway for its consumers in a digital world to access its shop from the tips of their fingers, anywhere in the world at any time. The mobile app has an easy interface that enables users to shop, purchase items, and interact with others through the Beauty Board, a platform that allows customers to share beauty tips by uploading personal photos and identifying the products they used.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \"Example<\/a>
    Example of Sephora’s mobile app.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
      \n
    1. Sephora Virtual Artist: <\/strong>Remember that lipstick filter we described above? This is it. Thank you, Sephora for creating a way for us girls to play with make-up without the removal mess. Through the mobile app, consumers can access Sephora Virtual Artist, where they can virtually test out over 1,000 lip shades and 90 false lashes by using the camera on their phone and swiping through the various filters. <\/strong>Once a customer finds the shades they like, they can purchase the product hassle- and toilette-free. It gets better. Customers can also use a feature called Compare M<\/em>e, which allows them to see up to four different looks on one screen, and Shake It Up<\/em>, which randomly selects looks for you each time you shake your phone. Don\u2019t worry, these features are indeed accessible on your desktop.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \"These<\/a>
      These show how Sephora’s Virtual Artist feature appears via its mobile app on iPhones.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
        \n
      1. Sephora Virtual Tutorials<\/strong>: The fun doesn\u2019t stop with just lipstick shades. Sephora has also created Virtual Tutorials where you can use your camera to see step-by-step instructions for various make-up looks (\u201csmokey eyes\u201d or \u201ccontouring\u201d) layered on your face.[4]<\/a> On your phone screen, the products needed are listed and then applied on your face at each step. [5]<\/a> Goodbye Youtube tutorials and make-up professionals. Virtual make-overs are now in.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \"These<\/a>
        These images represent each step of Sephora’s Tutorial for smokey eyes on a user’s iPhone. The feature uses augmented reality such that the smokey eye is applied on one’s own photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
          \n
        1. Flash Connected Stores<\/strong>: If you are one of those people who prefers the physical shopping experience, don\u2019t worry the tech innovations continue there. Sephora has introduced a Flash store concept that merges physical and digital shopping experiences. In a Flash store (so far, one boutique has opened in Paris), a small selection of its best-seller products is showcased alongside a digital catalogue of more than 14,000 products from over 150 brands accessible through massive touch-screens posted on the walls and counters. These digital products can be paid for in store along with the physical products, and picked up the very next day from the store or delivered to your home.[6]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \"Sephora's<\/a>
          Sephora’s first Flash connected store in Paris.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Sephora is undeniably transforming the way of beauty business in today\u2019s tech world. A few more ideas that Sephora could consider to further its value prop could be a Sephora type of virtual Birch Box, where customers can curate a box of cosmetics online. The customer will receive the goods within days and will only be charged with the products they keep. Additionally, to build out Virtual Artist, users could upload photos, and bots using visualization algorithms could suggest products for the user by delivering images of the user with a tech-application of the product. These would both further enhance and make easier the personalized shopping experience.<\/p>\n

          So, who wants to try a virtual make-over?<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Word Count: 798<\/p>\n

          [1]<\/a> LVMH, \u201cViva Technology: innovation at the heart of Sephora,\u201d https:\/\/www.lvmh.com\/news-documents\/news\/viva-technology-innovation-at-the-heart-of-sephora,\u00a0accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n

          [2]<\/a> \u201cA Digital Customer Experience Case Study: Sephora\u2019s Supremacy,\u201d http:\/\/www.mcorpcx.com\/a-digital-customer-experience-case-study-sephoras-supremacy,\u00a0accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n

          [3]<\/a> LVMH, \u201cViva Technology: innovation at the heart of Sephora,” https:\/\/www.lvmh.com\/news-documents\/news\/viva-technology-innovation-at-the-heart-of-sephora,\u00a0accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n

          [4]<\/a> Racked, \u201cSephora\u2019s New Lipstick Try-on App Works Creepily Well,\u201d http:\/\/www.racked.com\/2016\/2\/3\/10905650\/sephora-app-virtual-artist,\u00a0accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n

          [5]<\/a> InStyle, \u201cSephora Just Revamped the Virtual Makeover with a False Lash Try-On Tool, http:\/\/www.instyle.com\/beauty\/sephora-virtual-artist-launch,\u00a0accessed on November 2016.<\/p>\n

          [6]<\/a> Instyle, \u201cSephora is changing the way you shop in-store and online,\u201d http:\/\/www.instyle.com\/news\/sephora-flash-connected-store,\u00a0accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n

          [7] Sephora, “About Us,”\u00a0http:\/\/www.sephora.com\/about-us, accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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