How we source: figures on this page come from the company’s own filings (SEC 10-K, 10-Q and earnings releases, or its annual report), with the period stated next to each number. Last refreshed October 2026. Our methodology.
In short
Sephora makes money by selling beauty products from more than 500 brands, plus its own Sephora Collection label, through 2,242 stores in 35 countries and online. LVMH does not publish Sephora’s revenue. Its business group, Selective Retailing, which also holds Le Bon Marché and DFS, had revenue of €18,348M in 2025 and profit from recurring operations of €1,780M, up 28%.
Sephora is a retailer. It buys perfume, makeup, skincare and haircare from more than 500 brands and sells them to consumers, alongside its own label, Sephora Collection. LVMH calls it the world’s leading selective beauty retailer.
LVMH Selective Retailing revenue by fiscal year, FY2021 to FY2025, from the company's filings. Chart: The Business Engineer.
LVMH says makeup was the top category by sales volume in 2025, followed by skincare, fragrance and haircare, with fragrance growing fastest. Exclusive brands, nearly half the portfolio, were the biggest source of growth; Rhode was Sephora’s biggest-ever launch.
Sephora had 2,242 stores in 35 countries at the end of 2025, and a community of 80 million active members. It is 98.8% (calc) of the stores in LVMH’s Selective Retailing business group, which made 45% of its 2025 revenue in the United States.
How Sephora compares
LVMH reports Sephora only inside Selective Retailing. That group’s revenue rose from €11,754M in 2021 to €18,348M in 2025, up 56% (calc). Sephora’s store count rose from 2,100 to 2,242 over the same period.
Within LVMH, Selective Retailing made 22.7% (calc) of 2025 revenue but 10.0% (calc) of profit from recurring operations. Its 9.7% margin compares with 35.0% for Fashion & Leather Goods and 8.9% for Perfumes & Cosmetics.
Selective Retailing revenue was flat as reported and up 4% on an organic basis. Organic growth accelerated from 2% in the first half to 7% in the second.
LVMH revenue by line, prior year against FY2025, as reported. Chart: The Business Engineer.
Profit from recurring operations rose 28% to €1,780M and the margin rose from 7.6% to 9.7%. LVMH credits Sephora’s performance and DFS’s return to break-even.
Sephora opened around 100 locations in 2025, including five in the United Kingdom and a flagship in São Paulo. LVMH sold a large part of DFS in January 2026; DFS revenue was €1,494M in 2025.
What to watch
In the first half of 2026 Selective Retailing revenue was €8,406M, down 2% as reported but up 5% organically, and 6% in the second quarter. Profit from recurring operations rose 2% to €893M.
LVMH says Sephora gained market share in many countries and entered Belgium and Croatia. China remained challenging in 2025, and Asia excluding Japan fell from 15% to 11% of the business group’s revenue between 2023 and 2025.
DFS is being sold piece by piece, with agreements for its Greater China, Los Angeles and San Francisco airport and Okinawa businesses. That will leave Sephora an even larger share of the group.
Frequently asked questions
How does Sephora make money?
By selling beauty products from more than 500 brands and its own Sephora Collection label in 2,242 stores in 35 countries and online. LVMH does not publish Sephora’s revenue; its Selective Retailing business group, which includes Sephora, had revenue of €18,348M in 2025.
Who owns Sephora?
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, which acquired it in July 1997. Sephora sits in LVMH’s Selective Retailing business group with Le Bon Marché and DFS. That group made about 23% of LVMH’s 2025 revenue of €80,807M.
Is Sephora profitable?
LVMH does not disclose Sephora’s own profit. Selective Retailing earned €1,780M of profit from recurring operations in 2025, a 9.7% margin, up 28%. LVMH says Sephora grew both revenue and profit in 2025.
How many stores does Sephora have?
2,242 at the end of 2025, in 35 countries, up from 2,175 a year earlier. LVMH says Sephora opened around 100 locations in 2025.
Sephora is a multinational personal care and beauty products retailer that was founded in Limoges, France in 1969.
The company was acquired by luxury conglomerate LVMH in 1997 and offers a selection of brand-name and private-label products across skincare, perfume, nail color, body lotion, haircare, and beauty tools.
Understanding Sephora’s business model
Sephora’s business model focuses on delivering a superior and holistic customer experience. In this context, the company is focused on helping women navigate the vast number of options available to them in the beauty industry.
Sephora is a self-proclaimed “leader of prestige omni-retail” that provides a seamless customer experience across numerous online and offline channels. Employees are renowned for their extensive brand and product knowledge and are required to attend an induction program known as Sephora University.
In the sections that follow, we’ll detail how this strategy is carried out by the company.
Unlike some competitors, Sephora houses its online and offline marketing efforts under one department to facilitate collaboration. With one team managing its digital and physical retail, Sephora prioritizes overall sales as opposed to one strategy over another.
Internally, the company’s marketers track a customer’s entire journey from online browsing to in-store interactions. Externally, the company is better able to integrate online and offline product placement and promotions.
In-store experience
The Sephora in-store experience prioritizes brand showcasing, cross-brand purchasing, and consumer-led retail. Stores incorporate aisles that are wide enough for group shopping and products are intuitively arranged by color, product, or brand.
Sephora offers free product samples to consumers and encourages simultaneous product experimentation. When the COVID-19 pandemic made this unfeasible, the company launched an app where consumers could try on products virtually with support from in-store staff.
Technology
Sephora cleverly uses technology to enhance both its omnichannel presence and in-store experience.
The aforementioned mobile app serves as a central hub where users can access new products, recommended products, fashion trends, video tutorials, and celebrity news to keep them informed and engaged with the brand.
Technology is also a key component of Sephora’s superior and holistic customer experience. Products include:
ColorIQ – an augmented reality (AR) product that captures a user’s exact skin shade via photo. Based on this, the user is provided with a four-digit code to help them find the correct shade of foundation and concealer for their complexion.
Smell O Vision – a point-of-sale touchscreen device that lets shoppers smell a range of perfumes and pheromones, and
Sephora Visual Artist – an app that also uses AR and facial recognition technology to enable users to try on a range of makeups, lipsticks, and eyeliner.
Brand partnerships
Sephora leverages its robust reputation to attract brand partnerships and enter into deals to become the exclusive provider of new products.
Since other luxury brands consider a Sephora partnership to be extremely desirable, the company can afford to be discerning with respect to who it works with. By extension, Sephora is not afraid to discontinue a brand if it underperforms.
To avoid association with lower-end stores and maintain its brand image, Sephora also dictates whom its brand partners can sell to. Some of the company’s partnerships include the DTC brand Glossier, the department store Kohl’s, and the luxury fashion house Coach.
Value Proposition
Sephora offers a unique value proposition to beauty enthusiasts, providing an unparalleled shopping experience with a focus on accessibility, expertise, and innovation. Here are the key elements of Sephora’s value proposition:
Extensive Product Selection: Sephora boasts a vast array of beauty products, including skincare, makeup, fragrance, hair care, and accessories, featuring both well-established brands and emerging indie labels. Customers can explore a diverse range of options to suit their individual preferences and needs.
Expert Guidance and Education: Sephora’s Beauty Advisors are trained experts who offer personalized recommendations, product demonstrations, and beauty tips to shoppers both in-store and online. This expertise enhances the shopping experience and helps customers make informed decisions about their beauty routines.
Innovation and Exclusivity: Sephora is known for curating innovative and exclusive beauty products, collaborations, and limited-edition collections that cannot be found elsewhere. This commitment to innovation keeps customers engaged and excited about discovering new trends and products.
Interactive and Engaging Environment: Sephora stores provide an interactive and immersive environment where customers can sample products, attend beauty classes and events, and receive complimentary services such as makeovers and skincare consultations. This experiential approach encourages exploration and experimentation.
Revenue Model
Sephora’s revenue model is primarily based on the sale of beauty products and related services through various channels. Here’s an overview of Sephora’s revenue streams:
Product Sales: The majority of Sephora’s revenue comes from the sale of beauty products, including cosmetics, skincare, haircare, fragrance, and beauty tools. These products are sold through Sephora’s e-commerce website, mobile app, and brick-and-mortar retail locations.
Private Label Brands: Sephora offers a range of private label brands and exclusive collaborations, including Sephora Collection, which contribute to its revenue stream. These proprietary brands provide higher margins and exclusivity for Sephora’s customers.
Beauty Services: Sephora generates revenue from beauty services offered in-store, such as makeovers, skincare consultations, and beauty classes. These services may be offered for free or as paid experiences, contributing to overall store traffic and customer engagement.
Subscription Services: Sephora offers subscription-based services such as the Sephora Play! Beauty Box, which provides customers with monthly samples of curated beauty products for a recurring fee. Subscription services offer a recurring revenue stream and encourage customer loyalty.
Marketing Strategy
Sephora employs a comprehensive marketing strategy to promote its brand, engage customers, and drive sales. Here are the key components of Sephora’s marketingstrategy:
Influencer Partnerships: Sephora collaborates with beauty influencers, bloggers, and content creators to showcase products, share beauty tips, and reach target audiences on social media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. Influencer partnerships help Sephora reach new customers and build brand credibility.
Branded Content and Campaigns: Sephora creates engaging branded content, campaigns, and digital experiences that highlight new products, trends, and beauty inspiration. These initiatives may include video tutorials, blog posts, interactive quizzes, and social media challenges to educate and entertain customers.
Loyalty Program: Sephora’s Beauty Insider loyalty program rewards customers with points for purchases, exclusive discounts, birthday gifts, and access to special events. The program encourages repeat purchases and fosters customer loyalty through personalized rewards and incentives.
Omni-Channel Experience: Sephora offers a seamless omni-channel experience across its website, mobile app, and physical stores, allowing customers to shop wherever and whenever they prefer. Integrated features such as online reservations, in-store pickup, and virtual try-on tools enhance convenience and accessibility.
E-commerce Platform: Sephora operates a robust e-commerce website and mobile app, where customers can browse, purchase, and review beauty products online. The online platform offers a convenient shopping experience with features such as product recommendations, customer reviews, and virtual try-on tools.
Brick-and-Mortar Retail Stores: Sephora operates a network of brick-and-mortar retail locations in malls, shopping centers, and urban areas worldwide. These physical stores provide customers with hands-on experiences, personalized consultations, and exclusive in-store events.
Shop-in-Shop Partnerships: Sephora partners with other retailers, such as department stores and specialty beauty stores, to establish Sephora-branded shop-in-shop locations within their existing stores. These partnerships expand Sephora’s reach and introduce its brand to new audiences.
Online Marketplaces: Sephora may also distribute its products through third-party online marketplaces such as Amazon, where customers can discover and purchase Sephora-branded products alongside other beauty brands. Online marketplaces offer additional exposure and sales opportunities for Sephora’s products.
Organizational Structure:
Sephora Corporate Level (LVMH):
CEO or President: Sephora may have its CEO or President responsible for the brand’s strategic direction and performance. They report to LVMH’s executive leadership.
Marketing and Branding: This department manages marketing efforts, advertising campaigns, and branding initiatives for Sephora. It plays a vital role in creating and maintaining the brand’s distinct identity.
Technology and Innovation: This team focuses on leveraging technology, including mobile apps and AR, to enhance the customer experience both online and in stores.
Retail Operations: Responsible for overseeing Sephora’s physical retail locations, ensuring a consistent and appealing in-store experience.
E-commerce and Digital Channels: Manages Sephora’s online presence, including the e-commerce platform and the mobile app, ensuring a seamless online shopping experience.
Product Merchandising: Responsible for product selection, placement, and inventory management in stores and online.
Customer Experience and Support: Ensures that customers receive excellent service both in stores and through digital channels. Manages initiatives to enhance the overall customer experience.
Brand Partnerships and Vendor Relations: Develops and maintains partnerships with brands and vendors, negotiating exclusive deals and ensuring the availability of a wide range of products.
Human Resources and Training: Manages recruitment, training, and talent development for Sephora’s staff, including the Sephora University program.
Sephora Brand Level:
Store Managers: Each retail location likely has its store manager responsible for the day-to-day operations and staff management.
Sales Associates and Beauty Advisors: These are the frontline staff who interact directly with customers, offering product recommendations and assistance.
Leadership Style:
Sephora’s leadership style is characterized by several key principles that align with its focus on delivering a superior and holistic customer experience:
Customer-Centric: Sephora’s leaders prioritize understanding and meeting the diverse needs and preferences of their customers, delivering a highly personalized and enjoyable shopping experience.
Innovation-Driven: The company encourages innovation in technology and beauty products, leveraging cutting-edge solutions like augmented reality to enhance the customer journey.
Brand Preservation: Leaders at Sephora understand the importance of preserving the brand’s reputation for quality and exclusivity.
Team Collaboration: Given the collaborative nature of the beauty industry, Sephora’s leaders foster a culture of teamwork and collaboration among staff members to provide customers with comprehensive beauty solutions.
Global Outlook: Sephora operates internationally, and its leadership style reflects a global perspective, considering cultural differences and market variations.
Long-Term Vision: Leaders at Sephora focus on long-term strategies and maintaining strong customer relationships over time rather than short-term gains.
Ethical and Responsible Practices: The beauty industry increasingly emphasizes ethical and sustainable practices, and Sephora’s leadership likely embraces these principles.
Slow fashion is a movement in contraposition with fast fashion. Where in fast fashion, it’s all about speed from design to manufacturing and distribution, in slow fashion, quality and sustainability of the supply chain are the key elements.
Patagonia is an American clothing retailer founded by climbing enthusiast Yvon Chouinard in 1973 who saw initial success by selling reusable climbing pitons and Scottish rugby shirts. Over time Patagonia also became a fashionable brand also for its focus on slow fashion. Indeed, the company sells high-priced clothing items built to last which it will repair for free.
Patagonia has a particular organizational structure, where its founder, Chouinard, disposed of the company’s ownership in the hands of two non-profits. The Patagonia Purpose Trust, holding 100% of the voting stocks, is in charge of defining the company’s strategic direction. And the Holdfast Collective, a non-profit, holds 100% of non-voting stocks, aiming to re-invest the brand’s dividends into environmental causes.
Fash fashion has been a phenomenon that became popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, as players like Zara and H&M took over the fashion industry by leveraging on shorter and shorter design-manufacturing-distribution cycles. Reducing these cycles from months to a few weeks. With just-in-time logistics and flagship stores in iconic places in the largest cities in the world, these brands offered cheap, fashionable clothes and a wide variety of designs.
With over €27 billion in sales in 2021, the Spanish Fast Fashion Empire, Inditex, which comprises eight sister brands, has grown thanks to a strategy of expanding its flagship stores in exclusive locations around the globe. Its largest brand, Zara, contributed over 70% of the group’s revenue. The country that contributed the most to the fast fashion Empire sales was Spain, with over 15% of its revenues.
The Ultra Fashion business model is an evolution of fast fashion with a strong online twist. Indeed, where the fast-fashion retailer invests massively in logistics and warehousing, its costs are still skewed toward operating physical retail stores. While the ultra-fast fashion retailer mainly moves its operations online, thus focusing its cost centers on logistics, warehousing, and a mobile-based digital presence.
ASOS is a British online fashion retailer founded in 2000 by Nick Robertson, Andrew Regan, Quentin Griffiths, and Deborah Thorpe. As an online fashion retailer, ASOS makes money by purchasing clothes from wholesalers and then selling them for a profit. This includes the sale of private label or own-brand products. ASOS further expanded on the fast fashion business model to create an ultra-fast fashion model driven by short sales cycles and online mobile e-commerce as the main drivers.
Real-time retail involves the instantaneous collection, analysis, and distribution of data to give consumers an integrated and personalized shopping experience. This represents a strong new trend, as a further evolution of fast fashion first (who turned the design into manufacturing in a few weeks), ultra-fast fashion later (which further shortened the cycle of design-manufacturing). Real-time retail turns fashion trends into clothes collections in a few days or a maximum of one week.
SHEIN is an international B2C fast fashion eCommerce platform founded in 2008 by Chris Xu. The company improved the ultra-fast fashion model by leveraging real-time retail, quickly turning fashion trends in clothes collections through its strong digital presence and successful branding campaigns.
Zara is a brand part of the retail empire Inditex. Zara is the leading brand in what has been defined as “fast fashion.” With almost €20 billion in sales in 2021 (comprising Zara Home) and an integrated retail format with quick sales cycles. Zara follows an integrated retail format where customers are free to move from physical to digital experience.
Wish is a mobile-first e-commerce platform in which users’ experience is based on discovery and customized product feed. Wish makes money from merchants’ fees and advertising on the platform, and logistic services. The mobile platform also leverages an asset-light business model based on a positive cash conversion cycle where users pay in advance as they order goods, and merchants are paid in weeks.
Poshmark is a social commerce mobile platform that combines social media capabilities with its e-commerce platform to enable transactions. It makes money with a simple model, where for each sale, Poshmark takes a 20% fee on the final price for sales of $15 and over and a flat rate of $2.95 for sales below that. Its gamification elements and the tools offered to sellers are critical to the company’s growth as a mobile-first platform.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
