Sephora Goes Live With RedPrairie

Global beauty retail chain Sephora will direct over 160,000 order lines daily to 115 stores and arrange shipment to online customers in 2009 using RedPrairie's warehouse management system.

Sephora’s new Salt Lake City, UT distribution center will use the warehouse management system (WMS) to support the global company’s multichannel business, directing shipments to both retail outlets and customers purchasing on Sephora.com by mid-2009.

Sephora is a leading global beauty product chain, with more than 515 stores in 14 countries worldwide–227 located in the United States. The company chose to partner with RedPrairie for its service-oriented architecture (SOA), proven experience in high-transaction environments, and Workforce Management application.

RedPrairie also supports the company’s Maryland distribution center, servicing 115 stores. The two distribution centers together will service 100% of Sephora’s North American output.

“When we first selected Warehouse Management (WMS), we were looking for a supply chain partner who could support both retail and direct-to-consumer operations in a single facility,” says Janet Hanson, Sephora’s CIO. “The two shipping processes are very different, so the warehouse management application had to be very adaptable, and flexible. RedPrairie had the retail expertise we were looking for, with a warehouse management product we could deploy on our own technology platform.”

Sephora Europe has more than 500 stores within 14 countries and has established 30 locations in China. Thanks to Sephora’s recent partnerships with HSN, a global multi-channel retailing giant, and JCPenney, one of America’s largest department stores, the beauty authority is now accessible to more clients than ever before.