Sephora introduces new same-day delivery, live help services

A beauty giant is expanding its same-day delivery options and reintroducing an online shopping advisory tool.

As part of its Beauty on Demand omnichannel fulfillment hub, Sephora is rolling out a new, proprietary, same-day delivery service. Customers who shop for items on Sephora’s e-commerce site or mobile app can select “same-day delivery” on the product detail page, input their ZIP code, and then add the desired product to their carts.

From there, for a flat fee of $6.95, a courier will retrieve the customer’s order from a nearby Sephora store and deliver it directly to their chosen address. Orders are initially fulfilled by store associates for handoff to a courier to deliver directly to the customer.

Same-day delivery is available seven days a week in most major cities and suburbs for all orders placed before 4 p.m. local time. Orders placed after 4 p.m. will be delivered the next day. To see the latest notifications about their same day delivery orders, customers can download the app and enable app notifications. According to Sephora, a recent survey it conducted shows that nearly half of its shoppers place same-day delivery in their top three delivery methods.

In addition to same-day delivery, Sephora also offers the proprietary omnichannel fulfillment options of buy-online-pickup-in-store (BOPIS) service at all stores, and curbside pickup at most locations.

Timed to the launch of its new same-day delivery service, Sephora is also reintroducing its shopping advisory tool, Live Beauty Help, formerly known as Home Chat. Live Beauty Help connecting customers directly with a live beauty advisor, who will be an expert in Sephora’s categories, product assortment and application. This will enable customers to chat with real people online.  Customers were previously able to use this tool on Sephora.com, and it has now expanded onto the Sephora mobile app.

The retailer is launching its own same-day delivery offering following the September 2020 introduction of same-day delivery via the Instacart platform. The partnership between the beauty giant and Instacart offers same-day delivery in as fast as an hour from nearly all Sephora store locations across North America. Customers are also able to access select promotions from Sephora’s Beauty Insider loyalty program and earn points on every Sephora order placed on the Instacart marketplace.

Instacart has also developed a new consumer shopping design that makes it easier for Sephora customers to seamlessly browse and shop from Sephora’s assortment and quickly find a personalized color through a new, one-click shade selector.

Sephora is also unveiling this new omnichannel convenience following four straight years of taking the top spot in the annual Retail Personalization Index compiled by marketing automation platform Sailthru. In the most recent 2020 edition of the Index, Sephora increased its score to 89 points out of a possible 100, up from 79 points in the 2019 Index, thanks to its focus on omnichannel personalization, user engagement and new ways to provide personalized shopping experiences at home.

Source: Chain Store Age