Sephora: To Sell More Makeup, Give Makeup Lessons

(MoneyWatch)  Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's Maybelline. Maybe she can't draw a straight line with an eye pencil, and places like Sephora, a temple to smooth skin and "the smokey eye," whatever that is, intimidate the living daylights out of her. How do you sell her the products she's been reading about in Seventeen or Charla Krupp's "How Not To Look Old"? Teach her how to use them.

WWD.com reports that the Paris-based cosmetics retailer has started offering beauty classes at Sephora University, the first time it's done in-depth training for customers, rather than employees. The classes "also provide a marketing window into Sephora customers -- executives compared the training to a big focus group."

Sephora, which has 515 stores in 14 countries, including 190 in the United States, opened three Sephora Universities, in China, Paris, and San Francisco. Los Angeles is next, WWD says, as the company expands its employee education as well.

By going beyond quick in-store makeovers, Sephora turns a selling opportunity into a pampering experience, offering two things women don't get while sitting on a stool at the cosmetics counter: privacy and the opportunity to do it herself.

An after-work class taught by Bare Escentuals founder Leslie Blodgett in San Francisco attracted 125 women, who paid $25 for two hours of instruction, plus wine and snacks. Sephora employees roamed from table to table, helping customers try the products. The evening ended with double-chocolate brownies in a room where laptops were available to place orders.

"We would like to roll this out to the rest of the country," Sephora VP Karen Kenney told WWD. "Our clients have been asking us for more and more dedicated training."

Image: Sephora store via Flickr, CC 2.0