Welcome TBC insiders! Each year, TBC’s annual deep-dive PinkReport™ gets to the heart of what makes the beauty consumer tick. This year, we’ve prepared a generational analysis of the U.S. female consumers’ purchase influencers, shopping behaviors and buying patterns at the extraordinary beauty giant, Sephora. Your personal tour of some of the juiciest bits from this year’s PinkReport™ is just a brushstroke away. Happy reading, beautiful! (download the whole 120-page report at benchmarkingcompany.com/shop/)
Meet the Sephora Shopper
Maddie (18-24) and Megan (25-34) Millennial
- Spends the most time at Sephora/most tech-savvy
- 95% tell her friends about beauty
- 54% believes the store she buys beauty products from is a reflection of her
- Twice as likely to bring friends with her to Sephora than Boomers
Jessie Gen-Xer (35-49)
- Spends the most money at Sephora
- 94% say they are confident
- 85% are inspired by pictures of beautiful women to look their best
- 74% buy beauty products even if they don’t need them
Barbie Boomer (50+)
- Disposable income and still buying big
- 47% spend $150-$500 annual on beauty
- 96% enjoy shopping for beauty products
- 99% say they’re open to trying new beauty products
Madly in Love with Sephora
- 90% of women surveyed shop at Sephora, Sephora.com, or both occasionally or regularly
- 85% Sephora.com is her first online destination to browse beauty
- 79% first site she visits to buy beauty
- 69% of Millennials shop both in-store and online, compared to 59% of Gen-Xers and 49% Boomers
90% of women surveyed say visiting Sephora is a highly anticipated event
Loyalty and Trust
- 75% are Beauty Insider loyalty card holders
- 90% open their Beauty Insider emails
- Nearly 1 in 3 women have shopped Sephora for 5-10 years
- 40% note the loyalty program is a key reason why they shop Sephora
She Spends [we could just put in the pie chart of “total” spend]
- 62% of in-store/56% of online shoppers spend $26-$75 each time they shop
- 28% spend > $76 each visit; 34% of Gen-Xers spend $76-$300 each time
Her Personal Sephora Beauty Expert
- 35% say a salesperson’s knowledge of the brand/product is influential in her purchasing decision
- 31% have been swayed by a salesperson to buy a product that was not on her radar
- 40% spend > 20 minutes with a salesperson learning about products
Claims matter!
- 57% of all women surveyed check product reviews online before shopping at Sephora stores
- 66% of Millennials make product review checking a habit
- 35% of Millennials read consumer claims on packaging
- 32% of Gen-Xers read consumer claims on in-store displays
The First 5 Areas She Peruses in Sephora stores
- Makeup
- Lipstick bar
- Women’s fragrance
- Skincare by brand
- Nail bar
Her Top Budget Breakers
- 84% sometimes/always have a budget when shopping in-store or online
- 29% of these women say they are not always successful in keeping purchases within budget because:
- 62% She finds a product she really likes
- 49% The item is on sale
- 46% She likes the samples that she tries, then she buys the product
- 44% She sees something new that she wants to try
- 40% Impulse
Top Makeup Brands She Buys at Sephora (full list=99 brands)
- bareMinerals
- Urban Decay
- Sephora Collection
Top Skincare Brands She Buys at Sephora (full list=109 brands)
- bareMinerals
- Sephora Collection
- Benefit Cosmetics
Top Hair Care Brands She Buys at Sephora (full list=45 brands)
- Bumble and Bumble
- Sephora Collection
- philosophy
*Based on a study conducted of U.S. female beauty consumers from November 2014-May 2015 based on two independent studies with 3,133 respondents and 1,773 respondents each. The 2015 PinkReport is an independent analysis of the Sephora shopper and was not commissioned or requested by the company. All analyses and investigations are independent and unbiased.
To read more, click here.