Published: 12:15pm, 8 Jun, 2020
Beauty stores like Sephora will have to adapt to the post-pandemic world, with no communal make-up testers, lower sales of lipstick now most customers are wearing face masks, and higher demand for eyeliner, pampering products and nail varnish. Photo: Reuters
In a post-coronavirus world, it’s hard to imagine letting a friend borrow your lipstick, much less a stranger. But major beauty retailers Sephora and Ulta Beauty became favourites of make-up enthusiasts by doing just that – letting all customers test from the same display product.
Now, as stores try to lure shoppers back from a pandemic-induced hibernation, the industry once seen as fun and indulgent suddenly needs to take on new responsibilities typically reserved for health or enforcement workers – like sanitising and controlling social distancing.
Ulta and Sephora used the
two-month forced shutdown in the United States
to reimagine their stores, which once allowed beauty assistants to touch guests’ faces and use communal testing products – something that now seems cringeworthy. And they’re waiting to see how customers respond.
The beauty retailers’ stores are significantly smaller than department stores, making it difficult to practise social distancing. The main reason to visiting the stores was to test products, but now both stores have thrown out testers altogether – a new safety measure that some Texas shoppers say isn’t being strictly enforced.
Customers wear face masks at a Sephora store in Paris. Demand for lipstick has dropped. Photo: Reuters
As American states lift stay-at-home orders, people may be ready to rush to the nearest Ulta or Sephora to freshen up their appearance. But they may have to wait in line. The new capacity limit for Ulta is 40 people. Sephora also has a limit but didn’t list a specific number.
Inside, both stores look similar. There are the usual changes seen elsewhere, like
, notices reminding people to stay six feet apart and increased cleaning.
A plastic cover on make-up products at Sephora. Photo: Reuters/Benoit Tessier
Employees are being closely monitored. They must wear face coverings (something encouraged but not required for shoppers) and have their
before their shifts (also at mid-shift for Sephora). Ulta will also offer hair services in select stores by appointment only, with face coverings required for hairdressers and customers. Hairdressers will wear gloves, and stations will be six feet (2 metres) apart.
Testing make-up has long been one of the trademarks of beauty stores. It can be an indulgent experience after a long day at work, and a fun experience with friends. Practically speaking, it’s the best way to find your right colours.
Now, many customers are horrified at the thought of community test products, said Wendy Liebmann, CEO of consulting firm WSL Strategic Retail. “It’s something people weren’t totally comfortable with before, and now it’s especially taboo to even suggest using the same products or testing at all,” Liebmann said.
Sephora is dealing with a new world as strict lockdown rules are lifted and customers return. Photo: Reuters
Catherine Wester, Ulta’s district manager in Dallas-Fort Worth, said the extent of customer interaction with employees – other than at the hair counter – will be talking. Shoppers can still get advice and recommendations – from six feet away.
In Hong Kong, Sephora has two stores, in Causeway Bay and at IFC Mall in Central. During a recent visit to the IFC store on a busy weekend, while no social distancing was practised among customers and sales representatives, everyone was wearing a mask (customers were asked to by an attendant at the entrance).
Temperatures were checked before shoppers were allowed inside and a squirt of hand sanitiser was pumped on every customer’s hands before they entered the store. While testers were widely available throughout, disinfectant wipes were also supplied. Other local beauty chains such as
are implementing similar measures.
Customers who have ventured into Sephora and Ulta Beauty stores in Texas say even employees are finding it difficult to adjust to the new policy. Taylor Myers, 27, went to an Ulta store and saw people touching and testing products while employees watched.
“I felt like the guidelines for wearing a mask and not touching anything were great, only the employees were not enforcing any of the policies,” she said.
Ulta said in a statement that it has worked to instil the new safety measures in its employees. At Sephora, customer Kristen Tucker, 34, said she was told an employee could help her test a product, which she thought was reasonable.
Another shopper, 29-year-old Ashley Morgan of Dallas, said a Sephora employee tested the colours on his arm for her to see.
While these employees may have been helpful, Sephora said its new policy is that neither customers nor employees can use the samples now. Sephora said it has trained all employees on 48 safety procedures and guidelines around how to “safely and properly demonstrate display testers on themselves while maintaining social distance”.
Liebmann said the companies need to make their employees – who may be caught in an awkward position watching customers test products – get comfortable with explaining the new policies to customers, especially since the policies benefit them.
When the US went into lockdown in mid-March, Ulta was one of the first to close all its stores on March 19 and now offers roadside pick up at more than 800 locations. Sephora still doesn’t offer that option. On Sephora’s message boards, there are a number of threads from customers asking for this. Many of the answers suggest going to Ulta. So what have people been buying while sitting at home?
Nail painting and hair colouring products have seen a boom as quarantiners tried to replicate the two popular grooming services at home, Liebmann said. “First, we worry about dying (from the virus). Then we worry about our roots,” she said.
Sales of pampering products, such as facial masks, bath salts, and lotion – especially for hands dry from excessive washing – are also booming as some people
, said Erin Schmidt, a beauty industry analyst at Coresight Research.
“Consumers finally have time to take care of their skin and their hair without feeling guilty … essentially doing spas at home,” she said.
One product that isn’t popping right now? Lipstick. With many wearing masks, there’s no need to make up the bottom half of your face, said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail. Instead, eye make-up has seen an uptick as people look to highlight the one feature that pokes out above face coverings.
Now, as the country moves into post-lockdown life, the beauty world can expect another sizeable shift. And the winning player will once again be the one that best adapts to it.
More and more, Ulta, Sephora and other beauty retailers will start marketing products that are at the intersection of beauty and health, Liebmann said. This includes more “clean beauty” options with strict ingredient standards, as well as products you might typically see at a pharmacy, like vitamins, she said.
Focusing on new trends geared at keeping customers safe and happy – online sales, virtual try-ons, clean beauty and wellness products – will help Ulta and Sephora recover. And the changes the pandemic force Sephora and Ulta to make should create a better customer experience.
Ulta operated as a digital-only business for much of this quarter. That forced it to focus on its roadside pickup operation, showing that this type of minimal contact is leading to faster innovation, Schmidt said.
“I believe the coronavirus pandemic has helped digital transformation evolve much more quickly than anticipated … consumers are just adapting to a new reality of trying beauty products on,” Schmidt said.
