The New York Times had a piece over the weekend about how young people, largely because of the impact of TikTok and other social media sites, have turned Sephora into a “retailer of choice.”
According to the story, “Teenagers in the United States have said Sephora is their favorite beauty retailer, surpassing Ulta, according to a survey released in October by the investment bank Piper Sandler. The survey found that teenage respondents spent 23 percent more on cosmetics, skin care and fragrance in 2023 than the year before.
“Teens and tweens, particularly girls, have always experimented with and spent money on skin care and makeup. But this recent shift from drugstore mascara and blush to the high-end serums and lotions that Sephora carries and are documented on TikTok is leading to younger and younger customers wanting to buy these expensive products once they see that their friends are doing the same.
“But some dermatologists are questioning whether all the skin care and makeup products young customers are scooping up at retailers like Sephora are necessary. They say that skin is sensitive at that age, and that too many products can cause irritation. Ingredients like retinol or skin care routines that involve multiple steps may not be suitable for people in their teens, they note.
In recent months, social media has been abuzz with accounts of jubilant, and sometimes rowdy, groups of middle school-aged shoppers buying expensive serums and moisturizers.”
Sephora’s CEO, Artemis Patrick, described this popularity as “both an opportunity and a challenge.”
“I think that we at Sephora have a huge responsibility to make sure — as do our brands — to make sure that we educate this future consumer on what’s right for them,” she said, adding, “It’s always existed — this sort of youth obsession with your mom or your caretakers’ beauty products. The reality is they know what they know, and they know what they want.”
KC’s View:
The problem, of course, is that they think they know everything. But they don’t.
This is a hard one for a retailer like Sephora – a class of customer that is helping to drive growth, and yet it is necessary to be responsible in what they sell without alienating those customers, who are likely to become lifetime and highly profitable shoppers.
The thing is, retailers have to find a way to be responsible, lest at some point they find themselves being found culpable in the court of public opinion, if not elsewhere. Which probably means not just trying to educate kids, but also working hard to educate their parents, who in the end have to show some sense of responsibility, too.
The post Upside, Downside: How To Define Retail Responsibility appeared first on MNB.
View Original Article
