There are many cosmetic stores in the market, but there is one that everyone knows about: Sephora. I remember back in high school, my friend was really excited about Sephora coming to Canada. On the other hand, I knew nothing about Sephora so there was nothing for me to get excited about. Nowadays, when people talk about make up shopping, the first store that usually comes up is Sephora. Sephora opened their first store in Vancouver at Pacific Centre in Downtown. With many existing cosmetic stores out there, how did Sephora manage to become so successful in Canada only in a couple of years?
Sephora’s success contributes to their exceptional customer service and product differentiation. Sephora carries numerous brands, many of which are exclusive. These brands include Urban Decay, Tarte, and TEMPTU. Urban Decay launched a product last year that has become extremely popular, called the Naked Palette. Ever since it came out last year in June, it is still out of stock until today. The only way to gain access to it is to sign up for the waiting list. For a product like this, only Sephora can offer to customers. When it comes to customer service, I must agree that they do better than all the other cosmetic stores that I’ve been. They have a self-serve system which they surround different products with stations that provide cotton pads, make up remover and other tools that allow customers to try on any products they want. This self-serve function is something that Sephora does better than their competitors. There is one aspect that I absolutely get frustrated with some stores. I almost never ever shop at stores where the sales associates follow me wherever I go, as if I’m going to steal something. A lot of the times I just want to look around without any particular item in mind. However, sometimes they just insist in following me and comment on EVERYTHING I touch. One time it made me so angry that I just wanted to scold at her and stomp out of the store. Yes, I was that angry. I never encountered someone like her.
Sephora’s success is demonstrated in its expansion of two addition locations in Richmond Centre and Metrotown. I believe Sephora will continue to flourish with its competitive advantages in future years.