Sephora at Kohl’s celebrates a successful first year, plans to expand Sephora presence at all Kohl’s stores

Sephora at Kohl’s has celebrated a successful first year after opening its doors and beginning their partnership. The brick-and-mortar partnership was first announced in December of 2020, and officially began in August 2021. This strategic initiative was launched to bring transformative beauty experiences to millions of consumers, by opening a premium Sephora beauty destination at the front of Kohl’s stores across the US.  With approximately 600 Sephora at Kohl’s locations under their belt in just a year, the retailer now plans to expand Sephora’s presence across Kohl’s entire portfolio. After seeing that the partnership has performed exceptionally well, the brand wants to incorporate Sephora into all Kohl’s stores, making prestige beauty more accessible to consumers. This will result in 1,100 Sephora at Kohl’s stores, with a prediction of $2 billion in sales by 2025.

“Sephora at Kohl’s provides our customers with easier access to prestige beauty, and the partnership has brought in new, younger and more diverse customers to Kohl’s. We are incredibly proud of how our companies have come together so seamlessly to create a truly unprecedented and unique in-store experience. We couldn’t be happier with how our partnership with Sephora continues to perform and achieve the goals we set out to accomplish. Our success to date proves that this partnership is working, and this expansion is the next, exciting chapter in our history together,” said Michelle Gass, Kohl’s Chief Executive Officer at Kohl’s.

Key wins for the first year include:

• Strong success
• The 200 Kohl’s stores with Sephora that opened in 2021 have maintained a high-single digit percent sales lift. In the nearly 400 stores opened this year, there has been a mid-single digit percent sales lift, which is consistent with the initial performance in the first 200 stores.
• Customers are shopping across the store. Roughly half of all customers buying Sephora are attaching at least one other category in their purchase.
• Kohl’s projects that Sephora at Kohl’s will grow to achieve $2 billion in annual sales by 2025.

• The growth of new beauty customers
• The partnership is attracting new, younger, and more diverse customers.
• Customers that shop Sephora at Kohl’s visit more frequently than average customers.
• Kohl’s has acquired more than 1 million new customers since launching the partnership in August 2021.

• Prestigious brand partnerships
• Sephora at Kohl’s brands are also benefiting from this increased distribution. Top selling brands include Sephora Collection, Sol de Janeiro, NARS, Fenty Beauty, Charlotte Tilbury, OLAPLEX, and Too Faced. Notably, Charlotte Tilbury is set to expand its assortment in the coming weeks given its strong performance thus far.
• Momentum for brands has prompted others to sign on as well.

• Innovation and optimization with new offerings
• The ability to purchase and redeem Sephora gift cards at Kohl’s stores
• The piloting of a cross-company Buy Online, Pick-Up In Store offering, enabling shoppers to buy on Sephora.com and pick up at Kohl’s stores.
• The addition of Sephora beauty outposts adjacent to Amazon Returns within Kohl’s stores.
• Later this year, Kohl’s and Sephora will significantly expand the holiday gifting assortment and increase the marketing investment, positioning the 600 stores with Sephora at Kohl’s and Kohls.com for a big traffic driver during holiday

The partnership was first introduced with plans to open Sephora in 850 Kohl’s stores by 2023. In the fall of 2021, Kohl’s opened 200 stores, followed by an additional rollout of 400 more locations this summer. By 2023, Kohl’s will have opened 850 full sized, 2,500 square foot Sephora at Kohl’s locations across the country. The introduction of Sephora at Kohl’s has also been at the center of Kohl’s store remodels.

“For such a big endeavor, our partnership with Kohl’s has been executed extremely well and has delivered incredible results thus far, and there is so much potential to this partnership with the addition of 400 stores that have opened this summer,” said Jean-André Rougeot, President and Chief Executive Officer, Sephora Americas.

Source: Sephora at Kohl’s – Press Release, Sephora at Kohl’s – Forbes Photo Credit: USA Today