Sephora CEO Stepped Down with Less than Two Years on Duty

Sephora President and CEO Martin Brok leaving the company, and Chris de Lapuente, Chairman and CEO of LVMH Select Retail, will also serve as Sephora's President and CEO. At the same time, Sephora China announced the Chinese brand luminous plan, which will support 5 local Chinese beauty brands within 3 years and help them become high-end beauty representatives with sales of over 100 million (over 15 million US dollars).

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Recently, Martin Brok, president, and CEO of LVMH's beauty retailer Sephora, will leave Sephora after less than two years on duty. Chris de Lapuente, chairman and CEO of LVMH's Select Retail division, will serve as Sephora's president as well as CEO and retain his original position.

According to an internal memo, Brok's departure was due to "disagreement", and Brok has not yet responded to related questions. According to the news, Brok will step down at the end of this month, and Sephora's official website shows that Brok is still CEO.

It is reported that Brok was appointed president and CEO of Sephora in September 2020. Before joining Sephora, he served as the president of Starbucks Middle East and Africa. Earlier, he had held leadership positions in Nike, Burger King, Coca-Cola Company, etc.

Chris de Lapuente joined LVMH in 2011 as CEO of Sephora, and before that, he was group president of P&G global hair care division. Before Brok became CEO of Sephora, Chris de Lapuente had led Sephora for nearly a decade. During his tenure, Sephora tripled its sales and net profit, expanding Sephora from 20 countries to 36 countries. Its e-commerce business grew explosively and gained a foothold in the Chinese market.

After 17 years of deep cultivation in the Chinese market, Sephora has achieved an omni-channel layout in China. In 2005, Sephora opened its first store in mainland China. At present, it has entered more than 87 cities in Greater China, with 312 offline exclusive stores. Online Sephora has successively entered China's mainstream e-commerce platforms JD and Tmall. Since then, Sephora's official APP, WeChat mini program official mall and other online contacts have been established one after another, building a systematic omni-channel sales network for Sephora.

In an interview with the media, Chen Bing, general manager of LVMH-Sephora Greater China, pointed out that Sephora has made great strides in China: "The success of Sephora in the Chinese market does not refer to the number of stores opened, sales or growth rate, but how to build a sustainable Sephora business model suitable for the Chinese market."

In recent years, Sephora has continued to introduce and incubate Chinese high-end beauty brands, and continue to bring more high-quality Chinese beauty brands into consumers' vision, such as WEI, Herborist TaiChi, Herborist TaiChi, INOHERB TANG, MAOGEPING·LIGHT and so on. In addition to providing incubation support for Chinese beauty brands in terms of commercialization and channel expansion, Sephora is also continuously helping the development of China's new generation of high-end traditional Chinese trend beauty products.

On June 6, Beijing time, Sephora officially announced the Chinese brand luminous plan - "Made in China". The plan will support 5 local Chinese beauty brands within 3 years and help them become high-end beauty representatives with sales of over 100 million (over $15 million). At the same time, Sephora will also use its strong global network, loyal user community and rich experience in high-end retail to promote these brands to enter international retail channels.

Having been involved in the Chinese market for 17 years, Sephora has an in-depth insight into the needs of Chinese beauty lovers to update and iterate, adhere to the core of users and brands, and rely on the full-category matrix and omni-channel operational advantages to fulfill its commitment to the Chinese market, accelerating the incubation of Chinese high-end beauty brands.