Sephora at Kohl's Boosts Q3 2024 Beauty Sales by 15%

Sephora is a beauty growth leader around the world, even at struggling Kohl's, where its store-in-store initiative boosted year-over-year sales in Q3 2024 by 15%.

As LVMH reported earlier this year, its selective retail, which includes Sephora, reported 9-month 2024 sales of 12,559 million euros, a 1% (reported)/6% (organic) gain year-over-year.

Sephora was praised for its "remarkable performance" and market share gains in the United States, France, Italy, the Middle East and Latin America.

Tom Kingsbury, Kohl's outgoing CEO, reported similar upbeat results amid a broader tough quarter for the retailer.

Beyond the 15% jump in sales, Kingsbury noted, "Comparable beauty sales increased 9%, which was an acceleration on a two-year basis as compared to the second quarter."

Highlights included fragrance, bath and body, and skin care, particularly brands such as "YSL, Laneige and Sephora Collection," per the executive.

"Looking ahead, we are confident in our ability to continue driving strong Sephora growth," Kingsbury reported, adding, "For the holiday, we have significantly expanded our gifting assortment, building off of last year's success, and we see cross-shopping as a key opportunity to capitalize on."

He added, "And Sephora will be in more than 1,050 of our stores this holiday, 15% more than last year."

The Sephora effect hasn't been fully positive, however. In a strange twist, Kohl's "fine jewelry business was largely displaced" by Sephora shop-in-shops, leading to  "persistent headwind to our sales performance for many periods," the CEO explained.