Dive Brief:

• Sephora has added even more rewards to its Beauty Insider loyalty program, according to a company press release. This comes just five months after the beauty retailer updated the program with more perks and increased points for tiered members in August.

• Among the new benefits are: mini sets from Drunk Elephant and Kat Von D Beauty that all members can choose from for their free birthday month gift, as well as a rotating third product option for VIB and Rouge members, available via the "Birthday Boutique" on the retailer's website.

• This update also allows current and future VIB and Rouge members to "personalize their program perks options" by choosing one of three benefits for the year, including: adding 750 or 500 points to their account, sharing four or two Makeup Deluxe Full-Face Makeover experiences with friends, or receiving free 2-day shipping or free shipping for orders over $35, for Rouge and VIB members respectively.

Dive Insight:

Sephora's latest update to the Beauty Insider program shows it won't be slowing down with its loyalty offerings this year. The program, which has been lauded as one of the retailer's most successful features for years, already underwent one update this year, which gave VIB and Rouge members more points per dollar spent, and increased the number of items available for rewards.

While department stores like Kohl's, Macy's and Nordstrom, among others, have made sweeping changes to their loyalty programs this year, Sephora seems to be sticking to its core model and simply adding or adjusting benefits every year. The retailer also launched the Beauty Insider Community in August of 2017, began offering a clean beauty label in May of last year and has expanded store concepts like the Sephora Studio in the past year or so.

Loyalty revamps and upkeep have been a trend in the beauty sector more broadly this year, with Sally Beauty replacing its program in October and Ulta continuing to report encouraging results from its own. Ulta CEO Mary Dillon said the retailer's program had 30.6 million members enrolled at the end of the third quarter, who made up over 95% of the retailer's total revenues.

For Sephora, the journey is hardly over. The retailer harkened back to the core mission of its loyalty program in this latest update, citing its purpose "to celebrate clients' love for prestige beauty through unparalleled rewards, experiences and a sense of community" as the driving force behind the changes. 

"Our aim is to continuously adapt and grow our Beauty Insider program as clients' needs and wants evolve," Allegra Stanley, vice president of loyalty for Sephora, said in the release. "We are on a multi-year journey focused on raising the bar on client excitement and engagement in a prestige beauty loyalty program."