Customer Experience

[SAshopper23]

I’ve been shopping at Sephora since I was in Middle School (circa 2003), and one thing I have grown to hate is always being treated like a shoplifter while shopping in stores. I have had many instances of this, from being followed around the store incessantly, to having a basket shoved in my hands against my request.

Yesterday, I visited a store in my hometown and   Checked out a few perfumes. I found one I liked, but only the tester was on display, unlike the rest of the fragrances carrying the same brand. A sales associate retrieved a bottle for me and immediately said she'd hold it behind the counter. 

Nothing feels worse as a customer than having LP practices so passively placed against you without clarity or forthright communication. I googled to see if this was a policy and found a few articles discussing Sephora's new move to prevent shoplifting of fragrances, which includes not having full-sized perfumes on display. Although that didn't generally seem to be the case in the store I was visiting, it might have been for the exact perfume I purchased. 

As a former retail worker and black woman, I tend to get triggered by LP because I am privy to the methods and have had the displeasure of being forced to profile customers that look like me with an undeserving amount of suspicion. It's a small thing, but the passive "I'll hold this behind the counter" while continuing to shop with my empty basket dampened the experience. It felt like there was an assumption that I would steal the perfume.  I wasn't aware of some of the new policies for the fragrance section. I didn't see a display instructing customers of this new process, nor does the policy described in the article look to have been fully active in the fragrance section of the store I was visiting.

I ask Sephora to consider the following:

- place signage alongside perfumes that have to be retrieved by a SA and share that fragrances will be held behind the counter until purchase. This removes the assumption that individuals are targeted and provides an equitable experience.

- Enforce new policies consistently and communicate those to your customers directly. You have consistent customers who are not used to these processes.

- Coach staff to inform customers of the policy transparently. Recovery lines tend to be very passive-aggressive and should not be used on paying customers.

- Consider changing the fragrance display area to a display that naturally requires a SA. Maybe, like the old-school perfume counters. It would be great if you feel like the SA is there to help you and not just make sure you're not a shoplifter.

Sephora has a long history of profiling customers. My experience yesterday seems to have more to do with policy and less to do with profiling. Still, with a marked history, more should be done to help your customer experience. I will probably return my $300 perfume tomorrow just because I'm not excited about it. Being perceived as a potential shoplifter ruined my experience. I spend enough of my hard-earned money there to complain about it. 

- a tired customer

[DaneeBT]

Hi @SAshopper23 I'm sorry to hear about your experience! I'll send you a PM.