Sephora is tweaking its Beauty Insider rewards program once more.
In an email to customers, the beauty retailer announced changes to its birthday gift policy, which will go into effect on June 1. Beginning on that date, shoppers looking to redeem their birthday gift online will have to make a minimum purchase of $25 in order to use the perk. Customers can still redeem their birthday gift in stores without a minimum purchase amount.
The update comes about six months after another change to its birthday gift perk, which limited the number of birthday gifts that could be sent to one address per year. In November, Sephora added language to its terms and conditions that stated no more than 150 birthday gifts could be delivered to a single address each year, including residential buildings, office buildings or parcel forwarding companies. The retailer said it would cancel any orders that surpassed that limit.
Sephora did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why the retailer introduced a $25 purchase minimum online for its birthday gift perk or if either of these changes were tied to customers taking advantage of the loyalty program.
Loyalty and community-building has been a key piece of Sephora’s marketing strategy. The retailer introduced a members-only social platform in 2017 and has updated its Beauty Insider program several times over the past five or so years, adding more benefits in 2018 and then introducing additional rewards just a few months later. Sephora also launched a store-branded credit card in 2019.
In addition to tweaking its loyalty program, the retailer this year also launched a content creator program with TikTok, aimed at connecting up-and-coming brands with TikTok creators, and announced a return to the United Kingdom, with a store that opened in March.
