Sephora paves the way for more inclusive retail
Music, lighting, fragrances: the in-store experience engages the senses to inspire and stimulate. But for neurodivergent people or those with sensory sensitivities, this intensity can also become a source of discomfort. With Quiet Hours, Sephora is adapting its store environment at specific times to offer a calmer experience without compromising its brand identity. Élodie Barbé, VP Marketing Europe at Sephora, discusses the initiative and how taking neurodiversity into account is prompting retailers to rethink inclusion and the customer experience more broadly.
Could you introduce yourself and explain your role at Sephora?
I’m Élodie Barbé, and I’ve been VP Marketing Europe at Sephora for three years.
At Sephora, our ambition is to champion an inspiring and inclusive vision of beauty, where everyone feels free to celebrate their own beauty. Inclusion is therefore not a separate issue from the customer experience. It is an integral part of how we think about that experience and how we continue to evolve it. This means constantly questioning whether we are meeting the diverse needs of our customers and employees, particularly when those needs may be less visible. When it comes to neurodiversity and sensory sensitivities, the challenge is to understand how we can adapt our environment so that as many people as possible feel welcome and comfortable at Sephora.
Sephora has introduced several initiatives to better accommodate neurodivergent people and different sensory sensitivities. What prompted this approach, and what needs did you identify among your customers and employees?
It all started with listening. To develop Quiet Hours, we engaged with neurodivergent communities and people with sensory sensitivities. We also worked with experts such as Open Inclusion and Purposeful Futures, as well as our internal employee groups.
One of the key takeaways was seeing just how much of an impact seemingly minor adjustments can have on the in-store experience. Music, lighting and fragrances are all integral to the Sephora experience. But what feels stimulating and inspiring to some can be a source of discomfort or sensory overload for others.
Quiet Hours is therefore not about questioning our in-store experience, but about broadening our understanding of what an inclusive beauty experience can be.
What solutions have you implemented to make the Sephora experience more inclusive from a sensory perspective? And how have these initiatives been received?
With Quiet Hours, we make practical adjustments to several sensory stimuli at specific times to create a calmer atmosphere. These include changes to lighting, sound and fragrance-related stimuli. The aim is to allow neurodivergent people and those who are particularly sensitive to their sensory environment to explore Sephora in conditions that feel more comfortable for them.
But the benefits of this approach go beyond these communities. It can also help anyone who prefers a calmer shopping experience, giving them the opportunity to discover beauty at their own pace.
The initial feedback has been very encouraging. The pilot phase covered 32 stores across eight markets, and 90% of surveyed customers said that Quiet Hours make Sephora stores more inclusive and welcoming for everyone.
We now want to take this approach further by extending it beyond our stores. For the first time, we will be bringing the initiative to our European SEPHORiA event. From the moment they arrive, visitors who wish to do so will be able to use noise-cancelling headphones, helping them experience the event in conditions better suited to their sensory needs.
What have you learned from these initiatives so far? Have you observed any effects or insights that go beyond neurodiversity and have led you to rethink the in-store experience more broadly?
The first lesson is that there is no single right way to experience beauty. Quiet Hours was primarily designed to meet the needs of neurodivergent communities and people with sensory sensitivities, but we have found that its benefits can extend much further.
Some customers, whether or not they identify as neurodivergent, may simply prefer to take their time, move through a calmer environment and discover products at their own pace.
Above all, this reminds us that inclusion and customer experience are closely intertwined: the better we understand the diversity of people’s needs, the better we can create an experience that welcomes everyone. The initial feedback reinforces this, with 90% of surveyed customers saying that Quiet Hours make Sephora more inclusive and welcoming for all.
ccommodating neurological and sensory differences still seems to be an emerging consideration in retail. How do you see things evolving?
I believe the challenge for retail will be to continue broadening our definition of inclusion. For a long time, we have approached the in-store experience with the aim of creating the most stimulating and inspiring environment possible. The challenge today is to recognise that inspiration does not look the same for everyone.
This is not about setting an immersive experience against a calmer one, but about offering greater flexibility and more choice in how people experience a store. Above all, this means continuing to listen to the communities concerned and developing solutions together with them and with experts.
At Sephora, our ambition remains the same: to ensure that everyone feels welcome and free to explore beauty in their own way.
