NEW YORK (AP) – Beauty retailer Sephora said on Wednesday that it will bolster the number of brands owned by Black, cut the number of outside guardians and offer more inclusive marketing as part of a plan to combat racial prejudice in its stores.
The company announced its plan when it released the findings of a study it commissioned that looked in depth at racial bias in the U.S. retail shopping experience.
The study, based on a combination of employee and customer surveys and academic research, began in the fall of 2019 and ended in late 2020. It found that two in five U.S. shoppers have personally experienced unfair treatment based on their race or race. skin. show. It was also found that black shoppers are more likely than white shoppers to receive unfair treatment based on their skin color.
The issue of racial bias has become more important to businesses after the nationwide protests over police brutality last summer following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis.
As part of the plan, Sephora, a division of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, plans to double the range of Black-Owned brands to 16 by the end of the year. It will also feature and promote for brands owned by Black through a dedicated tab on the Sephora website. It also plans to roll out a new greeting system for shoppers across all stores to ensure a more consistent experience.
Among other changes, Sephora will also reduce the presence of outside security officers in its 500 US stores and engage more in-house specialists to minimize customer concerns about policing.
“We know we are in a strong position to impact positive change in retail and society at large, and it is our responsibility to go one step further,” said Jean-Andre Rougeot, president and CEO of Sephora Americas, in a statement.