Sephora returns to the UK after 17 years

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As online customer acquisition in the beauty space has become extremely competitive and costly, it makes a lot of sense for Sephora to re-enter the UK market and leverage its new London flagship to engage and grow its customer base.

Looking holistically at retail store openings in 2023, the most important thing for retailers to keep in mind is that a “one size fits all” approach to store expansion has proved ineffective.

Instead, retailers should employ a portfolio approach to any geography where they place stores. This includes thinking about all of the customers they serve within an area and then considering the right combination of store formats and product assortments to serve unique groups.

For instance, in any one zone, a retailer may end up with one flagship store, two outlet stores, a fulfilment-only location and four neighbourhood shops. That’s harder to manage than a cookie-cutter approach – but most retailers I talk to indicate that customers acquired in stores are more likely to have greater loyalty and a higher lifetime value. This is one of the many reasons why retailers need to make store format innovation a top priority.