“Vice President, Analytics”
(San Francisco, CA)
Company Overview
Founded in France in 1970 and acquired in 1997 by Paris-based LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis
Vuitton, the world's leading luxury products group, Sephora has more than 1,700 stores
within 30 countries. Since 1998, Sephora has been transforming beauty in North America.
Known for its unique retail concept—open-sell store design, expert sales consultants and
emphasis on the client experience—Sephora is home to over 150 classic, cult and emerging
brands, and over 13,000 products across various categories including skincare, color,
fragrance, bath and body, smilecare and haircare. Sephora Americas operates more than
310 stores in North America, and more than 380 Sephora inside JCPenney stores in the U.S.
Sephora’s first Canadian store opened in 2004 in Toronto, and in October 2012, Sephora.ca
was launched. In 2010, Sephora landed in Latin America via Brazilian beauty retailer
Sacks.com. Sephora opened two retail stores in Mexico in 2011 and one retail location in
Brazil in 2012.
Today, Sephora generates roughly $2.5 billion in sales across the U.S., Canada and online.
The company is growing at an aggressive pace in North America, with 30 standalone
Sephora stores having opened last year and 60 Sephora inside JCPenney store openings
planned for 2014. With sales of $270 million, the fragrance category represents 10.6% of
the business with significant potential to grow. In addition to new store growth,
opportunities include optimizing space allocation within Sephora’s stores, building win/win
creative partnerships with vendors and continued focus on innovative ways of engaging with
the consumer that has always been the hallmark of Sephora’s success.
In addition to its retail locations, Sephora operates the world’s top beauty website,
Sephora.com, and is often recognized for its digital presence across many platforms
including Pinterest, BeautyTalk, its mobile site and Apps. This past year, Sephora was
awarded the Digital Innovator of the Year Award by Women’s Wear Daily and also
recognized as the only retailer with a Digital IQ Genius ranking by L2 Think Tank. Today,
Sephora has over 5 million Facebook fans, 1 million Twitter followers, and 600,000 Apple
Passbook registrations. We have also just recently launched a partnership with Apple that
will allow us to share exclusive content with our clients via our website and
mobile applications.
Sephora’s leading competitive edge is based upon a multi-channel “customer intimacy”
strategy, focused on constantly entertaining and supporting customers with exclusive
product offerings, innovative promotions and distinctive selling environments. The company
has based its success on an innovative approach, independent advice and a non-intrusive
atmosphere. It is important to note that Sephora is a modern retailer, yet with the
formation of its Kendo business unit is also increasingly a brand owner and builder.
For further information, please visit www.sephora.com.
© 2014 Wiser Partners, LLC
Sephora ~ “Vice President, Analytics”
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Position Summary
The “VP, Analytics” is responsible for leveraging all Analytics, Forecasting and
Reporting to drive key decisions for the retail and online businesses. This Vice
President will create and disseminate strategic insights to improve business
results based on thorough analysis of end-to-end web and off-line customer data.
These actionable insights will be used to inform multiple, critical decisions across Direct
Marketing, Sephora.com, Merchandising and Finance in order to drive superior customer
understanding, guide Product Innovation efforts, and improved forecasting and decision
making, while generating incremental and profitable online revenue.
The “VP” will lead and manage all Analytics projects for the Direct Marketing team, the
Loyalty program, and overall E-commerce business as well as oversee the Customer
Database and adhoc Retail analytics projects. This executive will lead the Analytics strategy
team (responsible for all Digital reporting, Sales forecasting and new opportunity/project
analysis), the Web Analytics team (responsible for site and mobile analytics and multivariate testing), the CRM analytics team, and the Marketing Analytics team (responsible for
analytical support for all acquisition and email marketing vehicles). This Director will be a
visible leader in Sephora.com—reporting to the VP/GM of Sephora Direct—and have
tremendous impact and influence throughout the organization.
Scope of Responsibilities
 Metrics Reporting/Modeling – Develop financial scenarios/models to improve
enterprise wide business decision making and a rigorous “test and learn” protocol to
better understand how consumers respond to various stimuli, both on- and offline. This
includes developing an effective and profitable direct mail strategy (circulation planning,
targeting and testing) as well as MROI modeling to enhance promotional lift and
profitability. Work effectively with cross-functional business partners by providing timely
and relevant insights derived from data to facilitate improved enterprise wide
decision making.
 Digital Analytics Leadership – Collaborate closely with Marketing, Merchandising and
Finance colleagues to improve Forecasting efforts, better evaluate Marketing programs
and assess new business opportunities. Provide recommendations on important consumer
and industry trendsand competitive activitieswhich could impact online strategy and
business decisions. Develop a keen understanding of all sources of customer data and
partner with IT to optimize how data is effectively utilized across the organization.
Develop automated reports and ad hoc requests that monitor consumer behaviors and
provide a benchmark for actionable insights.
 Online Customer Experience – As a key cross-functional team member, leverage
analytics, testing protocols and insights to assist in the delivery of an exceptional and
preferred customer experience (UI/UX, wireframes, design), new application launches and
site enhancements. As the resident measurements expert, identify reporting requirements
and evaluate post-launch reporting. Develop metrics dashboards and provide a keen
understanding of page tagging and how data is captured within web analytics tools.
© 2014 Wiser Partners, LLC
Sephora ~ “Vice President, Analytics”
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Scope of Responsibilities continued
 Insights and Innovation Influence – Working collaboratively with Marketing and
Insights colleagues, provide direction and planning advice for all qualitative
and quantitative Research in the U.S. Strive to continually uncover and identify significant
marketplace, competitive intelligence and consumer trends and be a champion for
innovation, thereby enabling Sephora to set the pace for what must come next from a
category standpoint in order to deliver products that are “must haves” for the core target
and key Sephora channel partners.
 Develop and Manage Budget – Gain alignment to, and effectively manage the annual
Analytics operating budget, ensuring appropriate funds are allocated against priority
initiatives. Play a key role in the definition and delivery of agreed-to corporate financial
goals, including revenue, margin, market share, and Operating Profit. Manage all vendor
and external consultant projects and delivery.
Performance & Success Measures
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Engagement and Conversion Rates
Lifetime Customer Value (LCV)
Quality, timely delivery on critical information initiatives and projects
Continuously improving customer online experience
Successfully turning data into insights and insights into actionable, and relevant initiatives
360-degree feedback from internal teammates
Reporting Relationship
This “VP, Analytics” will report to Ms. Mary Beth Laughton, VP/GM, Direct at Sephora.
Mary Beth Laughton is the “VP/GM, Direct” at Sephora, overseeing the .com business/P&L,
including Merchandising, Marketing, Analytics, Production, Strategy and International functions.
Prior to Sephora, Mary Beth worked at Nike in Portland, OR. During her 8+ years at Nike, she
held a variety of Strategy, Merchandising and eCommerce roles including category
Merchandising leader for Nike Retail/eCommerce, the GM for Nike's Europe eCommerce
business (based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands) and the Director of Strategy and eCommerce
for Nike's subsidiary brands, including Converse and Cole Haan. Prior to her time at Nike, Mary
Beth worked as a consultant for McKinsey & Company in Chicago (her hometown). She is a
graduate of Indiana University and Harvard Business School. Mary Beth—and her husband—live
in Marin with their 4 year-old son and 2 year-old daughter.
Staff/Resources
This “VP” will manage a growing internal team of 15+:
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Senior Directors
Directors
Senior Managers
Managers
Analysts
© 2014 Wiser Partners, LLC
Sephora ~ “Vice President, Analytics”
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Critical Operating Relationships
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VP, Sephora Direct
eCommerce team
Merchandising
Product and Design team
Marketing team
Call Center, Customer Service team
Engineering, IT team
Operations team
Finance team
External Partners (suppliers, agencies, consultants)
Compensation Package
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Competitive Base Salary
Incentive Bonus
Vacation
401K, Health Care, Dental Care
Relocation (to the Bay Area, as needed)
Candidate Profile
Experience Base
 Web & Marketing Analytics – (must have) Deep experience with client and web
analytics. Expertise in web analytics tools such as Coremetics, Omniture, Discover and
Test & Target. Able to perform complex analyses to generate relevant and actionable data
driven insights to inform business and product strategy. Robust data mining, forecasting,
and statistical analytics tools, such as SAS (preferred) and SQL skill-sets. Must possess
exceptional problem solving and analysis skills combined with the ability to synthesize and
effectively communicate findings to all levels throughout the organization.
 eCommerce & Digital Marketing Support – (must have) Experience contributing to
Interactive Marketing plans with an understanding of the current online customer
acquisition channels and agencies/suppliers. Must be familiar with a variety of tools,
including E-Mail, Display Advertising, Affiliate, SEO/SEM, site side search, checkout, and
Mobile. Must have a keen sense of tactical execution in this space coupled with a keen
sense of urgency.
 Leadership Expertise – (must have) Experience working with multi-functional teams;
ability to prioritize and lead teams to execution; clear understanding of budgets and P&L
statement. Able to quickly pivot when necessary and present complex findings to various
levels of the organization. Strong inter-personal skills, executive maturity and EQ.
 Consumer Industry Experience – (nice to have) Previous experience with catalog and
direct mail strategies, as well as with categories where customer service is critical
(Hospitality, QSR, Retail, Airlines, etc.) are a plus.
© 2014 Wiser Partners, LLC
Sephora ~ “Vice President, Analytics”
Skill-set
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Strong Strategic Acumen
Proven Operating skills
Outstanding Organizational and Positioning Skills
Effective Collaboration and Influencing Skills
Organized and attention-to-detail approach
Innovative
Translates core business strategies into actionable initiatives
Listening skills
Highly resourceful
Ability to express ideas clearly both verbally and in writing
Commercial mentality
Personality Profile
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Self-directed/motivated
Flexible and adaptable
Results orientation and personal accountability
Sense of urgency
Enthusiastic
Strong work ethic
Self-aware with strong EQ
Intellectually curious
Ego in-check
Search Contact
David Wiser
Principal Partner – Cincinnati, OH Office
david@wiserpartners.com
513.919.4000 (M)
File: Position Specification/Sephora/Sephora VP Analytics Spec (01 09 14-F-DW)
© 2014 Wiser Partners, LLC
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