Sephora is making changes to its loyalty program and people are PISSED
Beauty retailer Sephora has made some significant changes to its uber-popular Beauty Insider loyalty program, and people are not happy.
Sephora emailed its Beauty Insider members on Monday, notifying them about the changes. Disgruntled recipients immediately took to the internet to air out their grievances.
“Starting June 1, 2023, clients will need to make a minimum merchandise purchase of $25 to redeem their Beauty Insider birthday gift at sephora.com or sephora.ca,” the email reads.
The Beauty Insider loyalty program has three tiers. It offers members seasonal discounts, extra shopping points, and, most famously, a chance to collect a special gift for their birthday.
Insider is the only free tier to join — VIB and Rouge require shoppers to spend $350 and $1,000 at Sephora per year to maintain membership and avail its advantages.
Sephora.ca
Beauty Insider members have enjoyed getting a free gift on their birthday for years. The $25 minimum spend policy only applies to Sephora’s e-commerce platform. While you can still get your free birthday gift in-store, it looks like customers are really not feeling this update.
“Burn Sephora down!” one member who received the email tweeted.
Burn Sephora down! 🙅🏾♀️ pic.twitter.com/e5ulEn1hXZ
— Miss Brown (@QB84) May 1, 2023
“Sephora already has the worst rewards program possible. Now we gotta essentially pay for the typically free bday samples they give?!” another wrote. “They’re gonna have to go to hell. I’m so sorry.”
They are so pathetic! https://t.co/NM7SXys0dL
— LawToya 🦁 (@ToyaRochelle) May 1, 2023
the new @Sephora birthday gift policy. Not a fan….
— Jassyleno🦋 (@Jazsyiluviie) May 1, 2023
:/ as much as I love sephora, I am finding fewer and fewer reasons to shop there. if Ulta did expand into Canada as they planned to pre-covid, I’m sure there would be a ton of people who’d switch to primarily shopping there instead. or even if they shipped to Canada 👀 pic.twitter.com/H0yIJyKZHm
— Sarah (@callmeasafebet) May 1, 2023
Some have already started blaming beauty TikTokers for bringing more attention to the gift feature of Sephora’s loyalty program.
I blame those tiktokers for Sephora now making you spend money to get your birthday gift
— Amina (@aminaaa_x3) May 1, 2023
Some customers also made duplicate Beauty Insider accounts to maximize their chances of getting gifts.
Damn they def saw that tiktok saying to get your man a beauty insider account so every bday you can get 2 gifts 😭 https://t.co/IZ701vKs8E
— j. (@urbnstylista) May 1, 2023
While the response has been overwhelmingly negative, some people have pointed out that they always spend money at Sephora anyway. That might be more of an in-store shopping pattern.
Y’all been getting y’all birthday gifts without buying something this whole time? Now ion agree with the $25 minimum but girls we gotta leave with SOMETHING. https://t.co/Zo0XMXPtE8 pic.twitter.com/QcwQlazoPO
— Lightly Fried Filet (@TheFineFeminine) May 1, 2023
honestly this don’t effect me. i take one step into a Sephora and $150 immediately leaves my bank account 😒 https://t.co/KgngAl0beE
— shroomlord (@yungsadsquatch) May 1, 2023
Daily Hive has contacted Sephora for further details and will update this story accordingly.
What are your thoughts on the policy changes? Let us know in the comments.
Follow Channels and Categories