Kohl’s And Sephora Announce Long-term Strategic Partnership — Retail Boss
Kohl’s and Sephora have joined forces for a long-term strategic partnership to create a new era of elevated Beauty at Kohl’s, combining Kohl’s expansive customer reach and omnichannel convenience with Sephora’s prestige service, product selection and exceptional beauty experience.
‘Sephora at Kohl’s’ will be a fully-immersive, premium beauty destination, designed within a 2,500 square foot space and prominently located at the front of the store. When the first 200 locations open in Fall 2021, the Kohls.com online beauty selection will also convert to exclusively showcase an expanded assortment of Sephora’s prestige product offerings.
The partnership will expand into at least 850 stores by 2023, offering an expansive footprint, a wide-reaching customer base and unmatched visibility for Sephora’s brand partners within the prestige environment in which they thrive.
“The Kohl’s and Sephora partnership will bring a transformational, elevated beauty experience to Kohl’s from the top global name in beauty,” said Michelle Gass, Kohl’s chief executive officer. “This new collaboration is an excellent example of two customer-centric, purpose-driven companies leveraging each other’s strengths to make aspirational beauty far more accessible to millions of customers all across the country. It’s an extraordinary time of change, and I am thrilled to partner with Sephora, a brand that shares our values and our passion for innovation and reinvention. Today’s announcement is a perfect illustration of the bold moves we are making at Kohl’s to accelerate our growth and reimagine our future for the next era of retail.”
Sephora is the largest specialty beauty retailer in the world and the industry’s most renowned global innovator. With its cutting-edge curation of brands and emerging categories like Clean, Sephora will bring its unique, playful trial and immersive prestige beauty experience, with more than 100 carefully curated beauty brands to Kohl’s 65 million customers across the U.S. Kohl’s, with a deep focus of serving the everyday needs for the whole family, is reimagining and accelerating the company’s ambition to be the most trusted retailer of choice for the active and casual lifestyle.
“At Sephora, delivering a strong client experience through passionate employees is at the heart of who we are, and we are thrilled to find a partner who shares this identity. This is not a pop-up collaboration, but an investment our brand partners can rely on for the long-term; as a company with a history of sustained decades-long partnerships, Sephora has every confidence in the future of this collaboration and the unique experiences it will bring to consumers across the U.S.,” said Jean-André Rougeot, President & CEO of Sephora Americas. “Our partnership will be built on expanding our complementary reach and scale in-store and online, creating customer-centric, prestige experiences, collaborating on new innovations, and living our shared values. We fully believe Kohl’s is the ideal partner to bring this vision to life.”
Sephora has 500 of its 2,600 stores in the Americas and Kohl’s has more than 1,150 locations in 49 states, serving 65 million customers, with very limited overlap between the two store networks. This combined offering of at least 850 Sephora at Kohl’s locations by 2023 will draw new and younger customers to Kohl’s and will bring the Sephora experience to millions of new shoppers and existing members of the Sephora beauty community, who may not live close to a Sephora location.
Sephora at Kohl’s shops will replace Kohl’s current in-store beauty assortment and their positioning at the front of the store will provide maximum exposure for Sephora’s brand partners. Exterior signage at locations that feature the in-store shops will display both Kohl’s and Sephora branding. These locations will be selected based on existing Sephora store proximity, market opportunity and customer insights.
“I am delighted by this new partnership which is perfectly aligned with our worldwide vision,” said Martin Brok, Global President & CEO of Sephora. “Great brands are always looking for new ways to serve their customers and innovate, even in dynamic times. With Kohl’s we will be able to bring Sephora closer to where our customers want us to be, offering them one transformative beauty experience that integrates our prestige product offering, our values and our communities, in a place where they come to get inspired and fulfill their lifestyle needs. This partnership also shows our confidence in the future of omnichannel retail and ideally positions both Kohl’s and Sephora to seize tomorrow’s opportunities, today.”
At Kohl’s, Sephora will offer customers its signature Sephora experience, with a unique range of makeup, skincare, hair, and fragrance brands. The stores will also deliver Sephora innovations in Clean beauty and self-care. Sephora’s high-touch customer engagement will prominently feature testing and discovery zones that serve up a rotating assortment of new, emerging or trending products, surprising and delighting customers every time they shop.
The shops will be staffed by Sephora-trained Beauty Advisors, who will deliver the excellent customer service Kohl’s is known for with the deep beauty expertise, consultations and assistance in product discovery that Sephora clients love.
Sephora purchases at Kohl’s and Kohls.com will be eligible for Beauty Insider rewards benefits, as part of Sephora’s award-winning loyalty program. Kohl’s will also offer the added convenience of easy in-store returns, store pick-up, and curbside pick-up. Sephora.com and Kohls.com will also integrate their e-commerce experiences, allowing Sephora.com shoppers to find the nearest Sephora or Kohl’s locations that have their beauty products available.
About: Jeanel Alvarado — Ohemeng
I have 15 years of experience in the retail industry including expertise in marketing, operations, merchandising, buying, shopping and technology. I am a former senior managing director of The School of Retailing, University of Alberta. My education includes a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from The University of Alberta in Marketing, Certificate in Real Estate and a Diploma in Fashion Merchandising and Buying from LasSalle College, a Canadian private school founded in 1959 by fashion designer Jean-Paul Morin.
Originally published at https://retailboss.co on December 1, 2020.
