Marks & Spencer has signed a deal with Sephora to open areas under the beauty brand’s name within its stores, in its latest tactic to attract younger shoppers.
The French retailer is to launch branded areas staffed by Sephora employees in 100 M&S stores and sell through the British retailer’s website in spring next year.
Sephora relaunched in the UK in 2023 with huge fanfare and now has about 18 stand-alone British stores. The company is owned by LVMH, the luxury goods group led by Bernard Arnault, who with his family is among the world’s richest people with a $171bn (£129bn) fortune, according to Forbes.
The company has rapidly expanded on its second attempt to enter the UK market after closing a handful of stores in 2005, having failed make a dent in a competitive sector. The deal with M&S marks a new strategy in its expansion plans.
Analysts have said Sephora’s work with up-and-coming brands and collaborations with high-profile influencers on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube has helped the company reach its target female audience of 24- to 36-year-olds.
John Lyttle, the managing director of M&S’s fashion, home and beauty division, said: “Beauty is an important category for M&S, with the potential to attract new customers to shop with us and give existing customers the opportunity to shop with us more often.”
“Combining Sephora’s specialist expertise with the strength of the M&S brand, our store estate and our growing digital platform,” Lyttle said. “Alongside this, we will continue investing in our own-label beauty categories where we have established strength and customer trust.”
Retailers have been battling to grab a share of the beauty market after the disappearance of many department stores. In recent years a swathe of UK department stores have closed, including Debenhams, Beales and about half the House of Fraser chain.
Sephora’s self-service model – which allows consumers to touch and test makeup and perfume without the help of shop staff – is seen to appeal to younger shoppers, who may test in store and buy online. The tie-up could provide increased competition for the specialist health and beauty chains Boots and Superdrug.
Lyttle said the deal was part of M&S’s wider transformation plan, which involves £700m of investments in revitalising stores, modernising its supply chain and distribution system, and further improvements in products.
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The group, which employs more than 65,000 people, has 227 full-line stores – containing food, clothing, homewares and beauty – after closing dozens of old and out-of-place outlets. More will shut over the next two years and a handful of new outlets are opening with the aim to have 200 full-line stores in the UK.
M&S’s food arm is expanding rapidly, with 18 food-only stores opening this year as it heads for a target of 420, compared with 335 directly operated outlets. Franchise partners run another 466 in the UK and more overseas.
Sarah Boyd, the managing director of Sephora UK, said: “Together, we can redefine what high street beauty means for customers across the UK, bringing the very best curated brand and beauty experience to the M&S stores.”
She said the group would introduce its beauty advisers to M&S stores to “provide a truly personalised experience, and to reach customers in more communities where they already live, shop and spend their time”.
