Saks hoping a little magic conjures up big sales
‘Magic mirrors’ let you virtually apply makeup
NEW YORK - How do you entice customers used to buying lipstick with the click of a computer button to head back to an actual store?
If you’re Saks Fifth Avenue, you set up “magic mirrors” where you can virtually apply makeup, unveil perfumes that shoppers can find — or smell — nowhere else and offer facelifts without the surgery.
The premium retailer has moved the cascade of cosmetic counters that greet customers who walk into its Manhattan flagship to the second floor. There, Saks is betting it can better compete with popular beauty sellers like Sephora and Ulta, as well as e-commerce sites, by layering on the luxury.
“It gives us the space to create a whole new type of beauty business,” says Marc Metrick, president of Saks Fifth Avenue. “It’s going to have to be more about experience and less about being a place where you can just run in and get what you want.”
Saks’ beauty department needed a makeover of its own to stay relevant amid the rise of e-commerce and a wave of newer, trendy rivals that offer ease, speed and often the same coveted brands. The goal was to make the
most of stores’ unique advantage over online retailers: “The environment and the emotional connection that you have with the customer,’’ Metrick said.
Popular cosmetic emporiums like Sephora have siphoned off shoppers clamoring for hot lines like Fenty Beauty by pop star Rihanna. And the convenience of refilling a makeup bag by ordering items online has also kept some customers away from Saks stores.
“When they’re shopping online, they spend a third less than when in stores,’’ Metrick says. “Getting them into the store is critical.”
Now, instead of dodging perfumespritzing sales associates, customers browsing the new beauty space are being met by a concierge who can book them a makeover, recommend the right cleanser for their skin or, at holiday time, pick out appropriate gifts on their shopping list.
In between choosing among more than 120 brands of cosmetics and perfumes, shoppers can get their brows shaped, nails done or pick up a handtied bouquet from EB Florals. There are 15 treatment rooms where they can get facials or services from the likes of high-end skin care lines like Sisley or La Mer. An event space will host master classes, makeup tutorials and other presentations.
Shoppers can also dabble in some more unique experiences. Sporting names like “Yoga Face” and “The Signature,” FaceGym workouts — reportedly popular with the Duchess of Sussex still better known as Meghan Markle — target more than 40 facial muscles in order to sculpt, detox and plump. The Saks outpost is the first FaceGym location in the U.S.
There’s a Martine de Richeville slimming massage that claims to smooth away cellulite. In the Gucci and Tom Ford shops — two of many distinct spaces on the floor that are dedicated to top designers and brands — shoppers will soon be able to gaze into so-called magic mirrors that allow them to try on various shades of lipstick, blush and other cosmetics without having to touch a tube or a brush.
The makeup applications will happen virtually, then be recorded by the mirror, and finally emailed to the shopper so they know what products worked best. Actual makeovers by a brand artist will also be recorded by the mirror.
Now, the first floor of Saks’ flagship will focus on leather goods and items like gloves and scarves.