Beauty Insider Updates + Beta FAQs

[SephoraBIC]

UPDATE 1/25/2020: Thank you for sharing your feedback. The functionality has been fixed to opt into the Beta. Please continue to share your feedback with your experience by commenting below or by emailing beautyinsidercash@sephora.com.

UPDATE 1/24/2020: Thank you for sharing your feedback. We also know that the functionality isn't working for everyone. Due to the overwhelming response, we’re actively working to get the site back up and we recommend checking back Saturday, 1/25, in the afternoon.

How will the Beauty Insider program be evolving? What can we expect to see?

We will continue to evolve the Beauty Insider program throughout 2020 to bring members more access to savings, more sampling choices than ever and new, unique experiences that can’t be found anywhere else. Stay tuned for more updates in the months ahead!

What will be included in the new savings offering?

We will continue to offer all Beauty Insiders premier access to more opportunities for savings. Members will be able to take advantage of new types of savings events, including points multiplier events and new shipping deals. More details about savings benefits will be shared in the coming months, so be sure to check your emails and the Beauty Insider Community regularly.

What are the new experiences you are offering to members? Sephora has always offered premier beauty experiences to our BI members, and in 2020, we will go beyond beauty to offer our clients access to wellness and lifestyle events as well. On top of the tiered choices and never-expiring points that all members will continue to benefit from, we are excited to offer early access to new brand launches, as well as a range of new premium reward experiences, where clients can use their points to gain exclusive access to the most coveted beauty events and experiences.

What will more access to sampling look like in the new Beauty Insider program?

We will bring Beauty Insiders exclusive access to even more sample choices, trial sets, and birthday gifts so they can try more products from the brands they love. We will be sharing more details throughout 2020, so stay tuned for more updates!

Which program benefits are going away as part of these changes?

We are always looking for ways to improve and enhance the client experience. In order to implement some of the program updates, we’ve retired the choice of a tier celebration gift and unlimited custom makeovers for Rouge.

What’s evolving and new in the BI program?

We are always looking for ways to improve and enhance our client experience and bring the best to our most loyal beauty enthusiasts. Clients’ needs and preferences are always changing and we want to ensure the Sephora experience and Beauty Insider program evolves with them.

Can you share more details about the Beauty Insider Cash Beta test?  

We are testing an idea that would allow members to apply points to their purchase for an amount off. The beta test is a limited trial online and at select stores in the U.S. and Canada until 2/28/2020. At Sephora we are always looking to evolve our loyalty experience and look forward to hearing from our clients.

How many times per purchase can I use Beauty Insider Cash offerings during the Beta test?

Participating Beauty Insider Beta members can apply the test offer once per transaction. Your transaction must be $10 USD/CAD or more before tax, shipping and handling to use Beauty Insider Cash.

How does the Beta test work? Is there a difference between online and in store?

We have selected nine stores in the U.S. and eight stores in Canada to participate in the cash Beta test.  For our online Beta test, we invited Rouge members via email to participate on a first-come, first-served basis.  Please see below for the stores that are participating.

U.S.

(Limited to participating stores in the Bay Area, California)

Sephora Corte Madera Town Center

Sephora Daly City

Sephora Embarcadero

Sephora Laurel Village

Sephora San Francisco Centre

Sephora Santa Rosa Plaza

Sephora Stonestown Galleria

Sephora Union Street

Sephora Vintage Oaks Shopping Center 

Canada

(Limited to participating stores in Montreal, Quebec and Vancouver, British Columbia)

Sephora Coquitlam

Sephora Guildford

Sephora High Street

Sephora Metropolis

Sephora Park Royal

Sephora Richmond

Sephora Robson

Sephora Ste Catherine

Who can participate in the online Beta test?

We invited our Rouge members to be part of the test on a first-come, first-served basis.  The sign-up period will close on 1/29/2020, or as soon as all spots are full.

I opted in to the Beta test. If I don’t use my points for $10 off before the end of the pilot, will I lose them?

No. The Beta test is an opportunity to try out a new offer, but you will not lose points if you ultimately decide not to participate in the test before 2/28/2020.

How do I give my feedback about my experience/benefit?

We will be sending a survey to anyone who applied the offer in the Beta test. To share feedback outside of the survey, members can email us at beautyinsidercash@sephora.com or comment on this thread.

I was invited to take part in the online Beta test, but it’s closed. How can I join? 

Unfortunately, our online Beta test is limited to a certain number of participants. A closed page means we have a full list of participants. You can still share your thoughts on the Beta test with us at beautyinsidercash@sephora.com or by leaving a comment on this thread.

I am Rouge—why didn’t I get an invite to the online Beta test?

The invitation was sent to Rouge members who signed up to receive emails from Sephora and acquired their status by 1/15/2020.

Does this Beta test mean Rouge Reward is going away?

Not to worry, Rouge Reward is not going away and will not be affected by this test. With your help, we want to test a new experience offering instant savings.

Are there any exclusions when I redeem my 500 Beauty Insider points for $10 off?

Yes, please see restrictions here: Benefit cannot be applied to gift card purchases, in-store services, previous purchases, gift wrapping, packaging, taxes, or shipping & handling charges. Return of discounted merchandise will be for the price actually paid after the $10 benefit, neither the 500 BI points deducted from your BI account or the $10 benefit will be refunded. Exchanges of the same item will be credited for the full transaction value including the $10 benefit. Sephora is not responsible for damaged, lost, or stolen offer materials. Offer has no cash value without a purchase and may not be altered, sold, bartered or transferred. Rouge status must be attained prior to participation in the pilot, by 1/15/2020. Minimum qualifying merchandise purchase of $10 (before tax, shipping and handling) is required to redeem 500 BI points for $10 off and benefit may only be used once per transaction. Due to heavy demand, Sephora FLASH delivery times cannot be guaranteed for orders using this benefit. Not valid on orders shipping outside the U.S. or Canada. Cannot be used in conjunction with other offers or rewards. Sephora may modify or cancel the pilot at any time for any or no reason. Sephora may exclude a Rouge member from the pilot for any abuse of the pilot or violation of the pilot rules.

[x78370]

The Rouge program especially is DEVOLVING. It's unfortunate that those in the idea generation and decision making roles for the Beauty Insider program are this disillusioned to think any of these changes are positive and increase the value of being loyal to Sephora. This no longer is a rewards program. I saw it slipping away during 2019, yet I still qualified for Rouge. As Sephora has continued to inflate the value of their rewards program, I've seen myself continually slip farther from a point redemption tier for any of the trips. Years ago, 10k points would have gotten you the entire trip somewhere. That's what I strove for. Now with a bank of 21k+ I still am no closer to being able to use it! 

Sephora has taken away essentially every perk to being a Rouge. Perhaps it's in a ploy to lure entry-level spenders at a larger scale. That's the only reason I can think of. The biggest benefit for me was the makeovers. Hands down. Now Sephora has created an abomination of their services and exploitation of their loyal consumer base. The Rouge full makeover perk being eliminated and replaced with a $125 price tag was a death nail. At this point I will be contacting the MUA for my wedding that also charges that amount. Why would I pay $125 to Sephora for a full makeover with product testers? I am terribly disappointed and hurt. Loyalty doesn't mean much anymore, I suppose. 

Each week I see reddit posts of other Rouges who try in vain to get that stupidly unobtainable $100 reward. Why on earth does Sephora limit this perk? It's the one damn perk that we could actually USE!!!! Query the Rouge base and I'm certain they'd find that dissatisfaction is the norm, not the exception. Also, why was the 750 point birthday celebration gift nixed? If Sephora is going to inflate point values to the point of us not being able to redeem, at least enable us to continue to build them! 

Sephora will be pushing your loyal Rouges to shop at Ulta, department stores, or direct from the companies Sephora carries. I've been monitoring my most frequent brands' direct sites and have noticed enough trends with their pricing/incentive/promo tendencies to where I would consistently save money by going direct rather than combining all into loyal Sephora purchases, waiting for the 20% off offers, etc. because of the diluted mess they've created with their BI program. Why Sephora would choose to push away their customer base is beyond comprehension.

It's not too late, Sephora could perhaps actually LISTEN to us and retract these ridiculous changes. They should fire all their focus groups they tested these ideas on (if they even bothered to go that far) because they failed miserably on giving a true voice to those of us out there that have been loyal to Sephora since we started going there. For me, it was Fall 2007 while I was at Officer Basic Course in nowhere Missouri and one of my friends took me in to show me how awesome this store was that she absolutely loved. I was hooked. But now, Sephora is pushing us away and I don't know what to think. Shame on them.

[kaittea]

I doubt they will retract. They don't care. They have shown that time and time again. I used to go to get a makeover when I was feeling upset or down and the MUA always made me feel amazing. Now I lose that coping strategy. Pissed. 

[x78370]

I highly doubt they will revert things as well. It doesn't make it any less irritating/upsetting. I would do the same as you with the makeovers. I learned so much from the amazing ladies at the Sephora Spokane store. They were incredible and had the spirit that big Sephora has since lost. 

Read this and you'll be even more irate: https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2020/01/23/how-to-make-a-great-retail-loyalty-program-even-...#30fe275b287a 
It's such an incredibly delusional and unauthentic article it's not even funny. 

[Siun]

Thanks for the article link ...  pretty fascinating to see how wrong they were.

[missjessicaxo]

I just got an email about the new “Beauty Insider Cash” beta program and I am shocked to see that Sephora is choosing to introduce something like this with such a LOW value given to the points we’ve accumulated. 500 points being equal to $10 off makes points half as valuable as they are currently, with 2500 points being able to get you $100 off (if you can manage to get a $100 Rouge reward, that is.) I would love if Sephora would always allow us to redeem our points for a discount, but the value being proposed is absolutely ludicrous. I am incredibly disappointed and I know I’m not the only one who feels this way. I hope to see Sephora take these complaints to heart and consider increasing the points value. Myself and many other customers may choose to shop elsewhere for our beauty products, where our loyalty will be better appreciated/rewarded.

[RoxyKitty]

How disconnected do you have to be from your customers to think this is even worth testing out?

Ulta's point system is better in every way: easier to get points & a better value. Ulta is coming to Canada this year. Meanwhile, SDM has a great point system and exchange program. Not to mention that both Ulta and SDM keep adding new brands.

I realize that the post states there is more to come, and I don't mean to be overly negative, but this is not a good start. At all.

[kaittea]

Dear Sephora,

I doubt you read these, but as a loyal Rouge member since the initiation of the program, I am disappointed and frankly insulted by these changes. The changes last year were bad enough, however the Rouge reward of $100 for 1,500 points was ok if we could get it. This is no longer available, nor are free makeovers or a choice of gift? 

So you're saying, spending 1,500 points I get $30 dollars off, where it's not clear if I can even combine this? This is unacceptable and honestly I'm infuriated by this. What is the point in being Rouge anymore? NOTHING. There is NO point. This does not make up for anything this makes things WORSE. 

I will be using all of my points and moving to Ulta because this blatant disrespect for your customers is disgusting.

[Hamtaro]

Is this some sort of joke?  You actually think this will be a benefit to your clients?  Does your marketing team know how client retention works?  It doesn't appear so. 

[kellygreenklg]

As a long time Rouge, I work hard for the money I hand over to Sephora, and I remember how excited I was when I first became a Rouge level member. These program “modifications” are NOT the business. 500 of my own points to test out your program with no rewards to try it out just for $10 off? No thanks. Considering how much we spend on premium brands at Sephora, $10 off for 500 of my hard earned points is like a slap in the face. Super disappointed in the direction this program is heading and I am sad to say that it looks like Ulta (to which I’ve avoided for years out of respect for the Sephora brand and rewards program) is where my money is going to go. 

[orchidaloha]

This has to be a joke, right?! 

How incredibly insulting to Rouge members. Guess ULTA and Shoppers will be making $$$ this year from all of the ex-Sephora customers!

[PrettyH8Mach1n3]

I saved up points for the Rouge achievement and $100 rewards. I did not save it for sweepstakes entries that I will likely never win and for confusing situations like this where it seems like point to dollar conversion is just not worth it. Please reconsider.

[ashlinry]

Oh, the sweepstakes entries were the absolute worst. It felt like nothing more than a way to get you to throw your points away so that they didn't have to actually reward you with anything other than the hope that you might win something big, when statistically you have such an incredibly small chance.

[JS515]

👎🏻 Not only is $10 barely worth 500 points, but if you return something your points don’t get reinstated?! Ulta gives you your points back.

[simplycaren]

500 points for $10.00? What a joke. I'm not amused, Sephora. 😕 I spend WAY too much money at your store, and being "Rouge" is not a benefit to anyone anymore. We even lost our free flash shipping. No thanks.

[Stephdoucet]

This program is a joke!! Ive been sitting with 4000pts in my account because there is absolutely no good rewards to cash out and when there is only about 10 are available. I don't see the point in being a Rouge member anymore just so I can save 5-10% more than others like 3 times a year. This is insulting 500pts for 10$. I started buying online straight from the brand at least they offer better loyalty programs. 

[ashlinry]

Same. I sit with thousands of points and never feel like there is anything to spend it on. On the occasions where there is actually a pretty good higher-point reward offered, every time I click through the email to check it out (like the second an email comes in about it) it's already sold out. How do they let that happen? 

Are rewards posted on the site and then seriously not announced until people have already noticed and it sells out? It really makes no sense, unless they're actually only offering like 5 of a better reward and they're getting snatched up immediately... in which case, sending out an email announcing these "great" rewards is nothing other than a marketing ploy to make you feel like you do have to buy more, rack up points, and stalk their website (and hopefully you see something you want to buy in the meantime) to hopefully get in on a good reward.

[valveeta3]

AGREED 100%! You’re wasting my time, Sephora. I’ll shop where I’m aporeciated. 

[laurendenil]

Pathetic. I've been rouge for years. I have over 18,000 points, I hold onto them since there's never any good rewards, The unlimited makeovers was my main reason for staying and shopping. Pretty much can guarantee Ulta be will getting all my business now.

[Northyvr]

I received an email regarding this. What a poor use of points. At this rate I have no interest in maintaining my rouge status (which I’ve had for years) and will start taking my business elsewhere. Shoppers drug Mart here in Canada has a great program and they are always generous with free samples when I’m there. I think it’s time to switch. Sephora doesn’t seem to value my business the same way it did even a few years ago. Rouge doesn’t mean too much anymore. EDIT: ironic that I just received an email from shoppers drug mart with a promotion for 20x the points when you spend $50 or more in store. What a difference in programs.

[Stephdoucet]

Ill be going to Shoppers from now on also! 

[Joielilly]

Is the $100 for 2500 point reward not being offered anymore? It was already next to impossible to get, even if you stalk the page every time new rewards might drop; if you manage to get it in your cart it will still disappear in the less than two seconds before you can complete check out. First the rewards were getting diluted with smaller amounts offered instead, and now it doesn't seem to have shown up at all for the past few weeks - and this new beta "offer" cuts the value of our points in half! Why not focus on increasing the availability of the existing rewards to keep your customers happy?