Kohl’s and Sephora announced that the companies’ partnership would expand to include a Sephora presence at all of Kohl’s more than 1,100 locations.

With approximately 600 stores in the U.S. now open since the partnership started in August 2021, Sephora at Kohl’s continues to perform well.

“Sephora at Kohl’s provides our customers with easier access to prestige beauty, and the partnership has brought in new, younger and more diverse customers to Kohl’s. We are incredibly proud of how our companies have come together so seamlessly to create a truly unprecedented and unique in-store experience,” said Michelle Gass, Kohl’s chief executive officer. “We couldn’t be happier with how our partnership with Sephora continues to perform and achieve the goals we set out to accomplish. Our success to date proves that this partnership is working, and this expansion is the next exciting chapter in our history together.”

One year in, the partnership continues to prove mutually beneficial to the retailers and respective customers. Key wins include:

Long Runway Of Growth

  • The 200 Kohl’s stores with Sephora that opened in 2021 have maintained a high-single-digit percent sales lift relative to the balance of the chain. And in the nearly 400 stores opened in 2022, it has seen a mid-single-digit percent sales increase consistent with the initial performance in the first 200 stores;
  • Sephora at Kohl’s shows strength across all categories, including skincare, makeup and fragrance;
  • Customers are shopping across the store. Roughly half of all customers buying Sephora are attaching at least one other category in their purchase; and
  • Kohl’s projects that Sephora at Kohl’s will grow to $2 billion in annual sales by 2025.

Growth of a new base of engaged beauty customers

  • The partnership is attracting new, younger, and more diverse customers;
  • Customers who shop Sephora at Kohl’s visit more frequently than the average customer; and
  • Kohl’s has acquired more than 1 million new customers since launching the partnership in August 2021. Of note, about 600 Sephora locations are open, or nearly half of Kohl’s total store base, many of which have been open for a short period.

Impact For Prestige Brand Partners

  • Sephora at Kohl’s brands benefit from this increased distribution. Top-selling brands include Sephora Collection, Sol de Janeiro, Nars, Fenty Beauty, Charlotte Tilbury, Olaplex, and Too Faced. Given its strong performance to date, Charlotte Tilbury will expand its assortment in the coming weeks;
  • Momentum for brands has prompted other brands to join the Sephora at Kohl’s lineup this year, including Versace, Murad, Clarins, Living Proof, Jack Black, and Voluspa; and
  • As the prestige product assortments continue to expand and evolve to meet the specific demands and preferences of Sephora at Kohl’s customers, there are continued opportunities for brands across categories, including plans to expand space in fragrance, given the success so far seen in the category. At the same time, men’s grooming will also receive dedicated floor space under the grooming essentials banner.

As this rapid expansion continues, Kohl’s and Sephora continue to find ways to make the Sephora at Kohl’s experience more integrated and impactful for consumers. A few new offerings recently launched or on the horizon include:

  • The ability to purchase and redeem Sephora gift cards at Kohl’s stores regardless of where the gift cards were purchased, timed for the holidays;
  • The piloting of a cross-company Buy Online/Pick-Up In-Store offering, enabling shoppers to buy on Sephora.com and pick up at Kohl’s stores;
  • Continued cross-store promotions that make Sephora savings equally accessible to Sephora at Kohl’s;
  • The addition of Sephora beauty outposts adjacent to Amazon Returns within Kohl’s stores; and
  • Later this year, Kohl’s and Sephora will significantly expand its holiday gifting assortment and increase their marketing investment, positioning the 600 stores with Sephora at Kohl’s and Kohls.com for a big traffic driver during the holiday.

“For such a big endeavor, our partnership with Kohl’s has been executed extremely well and has delivered incredible results thus far, and there is so much potential to this partnership with the addition of 400 stores that have opened this summer,” said Jean-André Rougeot, President and CEO, Sephora Americas. “At Sephora, our mission continues to be welcoming more people into the prestige beauty community, and we are achieving exactly that. In the past twelve months, we’ve been able to bring the premium experience Sephora is known and loved for to new communities across the country, giving them the access to beauty that we know they are yearning for. With a significant number of new Beauty Insiders, including the successful re-engagement of clients and holiday shopping ahead, the reality is that one year results are very encouraging, but this is just the beginning.”

Photo courtesy Sephora