In the experience era, the brand that understands its customers better wins. But "understanding" alone isn't enough; you need to nurture that relationship every day, through emails, messages, notifications, offers, and more, in a natural and consistent way.

Sephora, the world's leading cosmetics retailer, has successfully achieved this through marketing automation: a system that allows them to communicate personalized messages with millions of people without increasing their workforce. And the results are astonishing.

Who is Sephora?

Sephora is a leading global cosmetics retailer, founded in France in 1969 and now owned by the LVMH group.

Unlike traditional cosmetics stores, Sephora is renowned for its open experience model, where customers can try, compare, and discover thousands of products from over 300 global brands, including Sephora Collection's own brand.

SEPHORA store

With over 50 years of development, Sephora is not only a "beauty paradise," but also a symbol of innovation in customer experience.

From pioneering mobile apps and loyalty programs to AR makeup try-ons and personalized marketing automation, Sephora has always been at the forefront of combining technology and emotion, helping customers feel cared for in every detail—whether they're shopping in-store or online.

As the number of customers increases, the customer experience can easily become diluted.

Before implementing automation, Sephora faced the same problem that most businesses are currently experiencing:

• Sending mass emails without personalization results in low open rates.
• Disjointed messaging across email, website, and app → customers don't perceive "brand consistency".
• The marketing team was exhausted from manually sending out small, continuous batches of campaign messages.

As the number of customers increases exponentially, all manual care efforts become less effective.

Instead of reaching the right people at the right time, brands inadvertently send the wrong content to the wrong audience.

Solution: Automate your journey – personalize every touchpoint.

Sephora completely changed its strategy by incorporating automation into its customer service process.

Every action, from signing up for a newsletter and adding products to the cart to celebrating a birthday, becomes a trigger that activates a suitable care sequence.

Sephora's email automation

Specifically:

• When customers register for a new account, the system immediately sends a personalized welcome email, resulting in an open rate that is 86% higher than the market average.
• If customers leave their shopping carts unchecked, after 24 hours, the workflow automatically sends a reminder email with an offer – helping to reduce cart abandonment rates by 5.2%.
• On my birthday, Sephora sent me birthday wishes along with a gift that matched my preferences.
• Customers who haven't returned in a while will receive a series of emails titled "We Miss You" along with exclusive offers.

All of these operations are completely automated, requiring no human intervention.

The system automatically categorizes and personalizes content, delivers it at the right time, and saves all interaction data for optimal use next time.

Result: Personalization not only makes an impression – it also generates revenue.

According to a report from WBR Insights and Socital (Sephora Greece):

• Average revenue per subscriber increased by 142%.
• The open rate for personalized emails is 80–86% higher than for mass-produced emails.
• The number of subscribers increased by 118% in just 9 months thanks to automated workflows.
• Email automation accounts for 3.3% of online revenue at Sephora Greece, largely driven by orders recovered via shopping cart emails.
• Globally, revenue from digital channels (email, app, web, push) is expected to contribute 30% of total retail sales in 2024.

It all comes down to one seemingly simple principle: Send the right message, to the right person, at the right time.

Why is Marketing Automation So Effective?

Automation is not just a tool for cutting effort; it's the golden key to building deep relationships and sustainable growth. Its power lies in its ability to transform generic interactions into unique, personalized experiences.

• Customers feel understood: Each message is written specifically for them, based on their particular behavior, not for a vague customer "file." This drives superior conversion rates.
• Free up your marketing team: Manual, repetitive tasks are fully automated. This allows your team to focus on big-time strategy, creating groundbreaking content, and conducting deeper analytics.
• Centralized data, optimal decisions: All customer journey data is aggregated in one place. This provides a solid foundation for optimizing content and continuously refining the customer journey.
• Brand emotion is sustained: The brand is always subtly present, not "forgotten" among hundreds of other promotional emails. This consistency fosters long-term loyalty.

A prime example: Sephora doesn't just sell cosmetics; they sell experiences nurtured by small but consistent messages. That's the power of automation.

Vietnamese SMEs can do the same.

When you hear the name Sephora, you might think that automation is the exclusive domain of billion-dollar corporations. That's not entirely true!

The power of automation is now within the reach of Vietnamese SMEs.

• You don't need a technical team of hundreds of people like Sephora or Amazon.
• What you need is an intelligent platform that can effectively automate the customer care and lead nurturing process.

This platform needs to meet core criteria: Flexibility, Ease of Use (no complex programming required), and Cost-effectiveness.

That's why GTG CRM Automations was created. We help small and medium-sized businesses turn sophisticated marketing strategies into reality, optimizing every interaction without incurring huge resource costs.

GTG CRM Automations - Transforming the customer journey into a self-operating system.

With GTG CRM Automations, you can:

• Send emails, messages, and notifications automatically using pre-set or custom scripts.
• Personalize content in CRM based on customer behavior, interests, or status.
• The intuitive drag-and-drop workflow design makes it easy to control the entire process.

Create an automated live chat response stream to closely monitor customers.

For example:

• When a customer registers through the form, the system automatically sends a welcome email.
• After 2 days without a response → send a reminder message using AI.
• When a customer clicks the link, they are redirected to the "post-care" scenario.

Every action is recorded in the CRM, helping you know exactly where everyone is on the journey and what the next action should be.

GTG CRM's template automation library

Automation doesn't just save time; it helps you build seamless, personalized, and memorable experiences.

Conclude

Sephora has proven that automation isn't a luxury, but the smartest way to build customer loyalty in the digital age. With GTG CRM Automations, small businesses in Vietnam can do the same: personalized communication like big brands, effective customer nurturing, and increased revenue without expanding their workforce. One system, multiple touchpoints, all automated – that's the future of customer care, and you can start today.