Signals & Stats : Daily Signals

Connected store

By Victoria Buchanan 19 : 11 : 2015 Sephora : Omnichannel : Click And Collect

Paris – Sephora has opened its first Flash store, a smaller, connected format designed to complement the mobile shopping experience.

The store measures 100 square metres, a quarter of the size of an average Sephora store
Features include technology developed in-house at the Sephora Innovation Lab

Sephora Flash store, Paris

The new concept store features a range of digital technologies, including digital discovery tables, a virtual shopping basket and every Millennial’s must-have accessory – a selfie mirror.

When customers enter the store they collect a card with a bar code that acts as a virtual shopping basket. They can shop from a core range of cosmetic staples, while a digital catalogue featuring 14,000 items will give them access to the brand’s full inventory through a click-and-collect delivery service.

The store has no perfumes in stock. Instead, a wall of testers come with Near Field Communication tags so that customers can sample the scents and then scan the tags to display product information on screen as well as place a digital order. Items purchased via a digital order can be delivered to their home or picked up the next day in the store.

The Big Picture

Brands must build a Total Retail experience by streamlining channels into one channel of purchase. For more on creating seamless transactions, watch our video Inform with Alex Gledhill.