When Sephora premiered in France over half a century ago, its presence in the European market began to decline by the 2000s. In 2005, the luxury beauty brand ultimately exited from the United Kingdom, leaving just a few open stores. Sephora pointed to costly rents and competition when citing reasons for their exit from the UK market.

After two decades away, Sephora’s management group believes the moment has come to reclaim the UK market. Set on making a comeback to the UK for a while now, Steve Lesnard -the brand’s new Global Chief Brand Officer- affirms that 2023 will be Sephora’s year of fully getting back into the market.

The CMO of The North Face collaborated with the Sephora squad to develop a full omnichannel understanding for UK buyers, bringing the maximum of in-store and online shopping back to the UK. Explore why Sephora came back to the UK and specifics regarding its omnichannel initiative that began just in time for holiday shopping.

So that Lesnard’s team could get Sephora into the UK in time for Q4—the period of relentless buying—they concocted an ambitious plan. To cultivate a stir surrounding its return, they implemented a three-pronged approach which included getting FeelUnique, executing a pop-up activation event, and crafting the cross-channel “Express All of You” campaign.

Nearly two decades ago, Sephora pulled out of the UK market, but its leadership team always wanted to come back. Observing content creators on platforms such as TikTok becoming successful in the UK, the members of Sephora’s C-suite saw a spike in self-expression in the UK market.

In conclusion, Lesnard says the advent of social media was a large part of why Sephora returned to the UK with a campaign centered around expression and love.