Breaking Out: Sephora’s Battle with Gen Alpha’s Impact
By: Ally Chow
The Ivey Business Review is a student publication conceived, designed and managed by Honors Business Administration students at the Ivey Business School.
From Toys to Toners?
In January 2024, Sephora faced backlash over the influx of Generation Alpha (Gen Alpha) shoppers, dubbed “Sephora Kids.” Millions of social media users voiced concerns about overcrowded stores and the potential harm of trending skincare products, which dermatologists warn can irritate and damage young skin. A New York-based dermatologist, Dr. Lauren Penzi, noted an increase in skin damage in patients aged 10-12 attributed to the overuse of such products, a trend linked to the rise of "Sephora Kids."
Sephora's current strategy does not adapt to the growing Gen Alpha demographic, creating tensions with existing customer segments, as seen in the 2024 backlash. This misalignment has led to key pain points: concerns over “tween” shoppers using unsuitable products without understanding potential health impacts and the overcrowding of stores, which disrupts the shopping experience for other customers. However, this backlash also highlights the strong demand from Gen Alpha, who lack dedicated retail spaces to explore their interest in beauty, contributing to these pain points. Without tailoring its strategy, Sephora risks alienating new and existing customers while missing the opportunity to engage a rapidly growing demographic entirely.
The Glowing Beauty Industry
The beauty and personal care market is experiencing significant growth, projected to generate 677.19 billion USD in 2025, with an annual growth rate of 6 percent through 2028. Skincare alone accounted for 44 percent of the beauty market in 2023,, reflecting an increasingly health and beauty-conscious consumer base. Amid this growth, Sephora has solidified its position as a key distribution channel for brands and consumers, offering a diverse selection of products from nearly 500 brands across skincare, haircare, makeup, and wellness.
Alpha’s Aisle
Born between 2010 and 2024, Gen Alpha is currently between the ages of 1 and 14, comprising about 13 percent of the U.S. population in 2024. In 2023 alone, Gen Alpha spent nearly 4.7 billion USD on beauty products, with their spending power projected to reach 5.5 trillion USD by 2029, almost as much as millennials and Generation Z (Gen Z) combined. As the first generation born entirely in the 21st century, Gen Alpha is projected to be the most tech-savvy and digitally empowered generation. Their familiarity with technology drives a stronger focus on e-commerce, with young shoppers turning to Sephora’s digital channels for education, product information, and purchases.
Many of these consumers are in a unique phase where parents heavily influence purchasing decisions through financial support or permission. Additionally, many Gen Alpha are entering their “tween” years, a transitional period marked by puberty, acne, and a subsequent growing interest in skincare. Among 10-12-year-olds, between 28-61 percent have been clinically diagnosed with acne, and approximately 40 percent of U.S. parents spend over 51 USD monthly on skincare for their tweens and teens. Despite this demand, dedicated retail spaces for the tween demographic are becoming increasingly rare. As a result, Gen Alpha’s need for in-person shopping experiences remains largely unmet, creating an untapped opportunity within the beauty industry.
Outpaced or Out of Touch?
Sephora has built an omnichannel strategy that integrates in-store, online, and mobile experiences. By analyzing customer data, it tailors product recommendations and promotions to enhance engagement across all channels. This approach has strengthened Sephora’s position as a global industry leader, driving 19.6 billion USD in revenue and operating over 3,000 stores across 34 countries as of 2024.
Sephora primarily targets women aged 24-35, including Millennials and Gen Z, whose purchases are influenced by friend recommendations and repeat buying. In April 2024, over a third of global visitors to Sephora’s website were between 25 and 34 years old, followed by 35-44-year-olds, who accounted for 18 percent of online traffic. Beyond its core customer segments, Sephora also caters to professional makeup artists and hairstylists by offering various products across various price points, quality levels, and functions.
Not Just Playing Dress-Up: A Targeted Approach
Sephora should implement a two-part solution that positions the brand as a “big sister” helping parents and Gen Alpha develop healthy, long-term skincare habits with safe and accessible products. By creating a dedicated space for “Sephora Kids” and their parents to explore, learn, and shop together, Sephora can create a more inclusive and educational beauty experience while better serving the needs of Gen Alpha consumers.
Digital Experience Enhancement
Sephora should expand its website categorization by introducing curated online sections targeted at young consumers. While Sephora currently offers a “Skincare by age” category, it only includes products for customers in their 20s to 50s, overlooking a growing Gen Alpha customer segment. Through digital experience enhancement, customers could skim through new categories like “Trending with Gen Alpha”, “Beginner’s Guide to Clear Skin”, and “Parent Picks,” which would feature popular products alongside safer, age-appropriate alternatives.
Gen Alpha’s interest in trending brands is evident, having spent over 63.4 million USD and 56.6 million USD on Drunk Elephant and Glow Recipe, respectively. Sephora can guide young shoppers toward safer choices by incorporating these brands while showcasing less potent and irritating options, such as The Inkey List. For tweens seeking acne solutions, “Beginner’s Guide to Clear Skin” can highlight suitable products like pimple creams and acne patches. Meanwhile, “Parent Picks” can serve as a resource for parents, featuring dermatologist-approved products like Supergoop! Sunscreen will help parents and Gen Alpha build healthy skincare habits.
E-commerce continues to grow, with Sephora projected to generate 306 million USD in online net sales in 2025, and online shopping among 12-15 year olds increasing by 39 percent since 2021. Gen Alpha increasingly turns to e-commerce for beauty solutions, education, and social validation. However, many “tween” customers lack product knowledge, often leading to the popularity of unsuitable products. Sephora can shift demand toward gentler products while enhancing the online shopping experience by creating a dedicated space that prioritizes product safety and parental guidance. Additionally, encouraging digital engagement helps reduce in-store crowding, improving the shopping experience for all customer demographics.
Curated In-Store Aisles
To complement its digital experience enhancement, Sephora should further tailor its in-store offerings for Gen Alpha by introducing curated aisles that feature age-appropriate skincare and beauty products. These sections would showcase less potent products such as cleansers, moisturizers, and sunscreen, products that Artemis Patrick, President and CEO of Sephora North America, identified as the main necessary products for Gen Alpha. She also advised against usage of potent ingredients such as retinol and vitamin C serums, reinforcing the need for safer alternatives. Products should be selected based on brand recognizability and product popularity while ensuring they cater to Gen Alpha’s sensitive and acne-prone skin. Brand packaging and marketing should also be considered, as Gen Alpha strongly emphasizes aesthetics, exemplified by Drunk Elephant’s bright colours and playful product names, such as the "Itty Bitty Midi Committee Acid Kit."
Dedicated Sephora beauty advisors can be positioned in these aisles to offer personalized recommendations and guidance for young customers. To better assist “tween” customers, Sephora should implement specialized training through interactive sessions and e-learning modules, equipping employees to communicate with both young shoppers and their parents effectively. Advisors should also be well-versed in age-appropriate skincare, ensuring they can help “tween” customers make informed, safe choices while creating an engaging and educational shopping experience.
Building on its omnichannel strategy, Sephora should integrate QR codes throughout the curated aisles, linking directly to its website. These QR codes would provide customers with instant access to product information, including customer reviews, photos, and how-to-use guides. Sephora’s data shows that 70 percent of customers who visit its website before purchasing in-store do so within 24 hours, with these shoppers spending 13 percent more on average. By offering an additional in-store information source beyond store employees, QR codes can reduce demand for beauty advisors, leading to shorter wait times, faster customer turnover, and less in-store crowding. Website-linked codes also align with Gen Alpha’s tech-savviness, catering to the potential preference for independent, digital-first shopping experiences over direct human interaction.
To further engage Gen Alpha, QR codes should also link to social media content featuring curated products. Sephora should collaborate with influencers to create age-appropriate promotional content using and promoting high-selling, tween-suitable products. By commissioning specific posts, Sephora can ensure the content resonates with both “tweens” and their parents. In 2024, YouTube and TikTok were the most popular social media platforms among Gen Alpha, with 46 percent using YouTube and 21 percent using TikTok. Influencers on these platforms should be selected based on viewership and engagement levels, ensuring they maintain a family-friendly image that aligns with Sephora’s brand values.
Gen Alpha is highly influenced by social media, with 25 percent seeking shopping inspiration from influencers and 55 percent wanting to buy products endorsed by their favourites. Since 2023, there has been an 11 percent increase in Gen Alpha using social media to discover products they want to purchase. Sephora can capitalize on this growth by tapping into Gen Alpha’s aspirational motivations. Many “Sephora Kids” look up to online influencers wanting to purchase and use the same products to mirror their role models. By linking influencer-led content in stores, Sephora can drive product desire for suitable products and increase sales, reinforcing its relevance with the next generation of beauty consumers.
Recognizing the demand for dedicated in-person spaces for Gen Alpha, these curated aisles would provide a safe environment for young customers to explore and learn about beauty products. Sephora can position itself as a “big sister” for both parents and “tweens”, helping them develop healthy skincare habits as they transition into their teenage years.
Glam for Generations: Long-Term Positioning
Implementing this two-part solution provides Sephora first-mover advantage, positioning it as a pioneer in catering to the next generation of beauty consumers. By engaging Gen Alpha early, Sephora acts proactively rather than reactively. Sephora secures long-term customer retention and multi-generational appeal as the demographic’s discretionary income grows and brand loyalty forms. Providing a trusted space where young consumers feel seen, understood, and empowered reinforces Sephora’s role as a constant in their evolving growth. This strategic repositioning not only strengthens Sephora’s connection with Gen Alpha but also ensures alignment across all customer segments, preventing future backlash and preserving an enjoyable shopping experience for all.
Beauty Meets Boundaries
Growing concerns over youth using potent skincare products have already prompted regulatory responses. In February 2025, a bill was introduced in California to make it illegal for minors to purchase skincare or cosmetics containing Vitamin A or Alpha hydroxy acids. As of March 2025, the bill is still under development. Similarly, in Sweden, retailer Apotek Hjärtat restricted the sale of potent anti-aging products like retinol and vitamin C to individuals under 15, effective March 2024. If more regions adopt similar regulations, Sephora could face restrictions on marketing and sales to Gen Alpha, complicating store operations and threatening its relationship with the “Sephora Kids” demographic. To mitigate this, Sephora could introduce clear, age-appropriate labelling in stores and online. Using colour-coded stickers on products will help parents and young shoppers identify unsuitable products. Potent adult skincare products, such as those containing retinol or Vitamin A, can be marked with a coloured sticker indicating their unsuitability for younger customers. Online, an advisory pop-up could alert customers about the strength of ingredients when checking out these products. By furthering the promotion of dermatologist-approved, safe options, Sephora can assist parents and “tweens” in learning about safe skincare, reinforcing its commitment to responsible retailing and preserving the effectiveness of Gen Alpha-tailored solutions.
Another risk stems from Sephora’s plan to implement mass layout changes across its 700 North American locations. In response to the rise in mobile in-store checkouts, Sephora plans to add modular displays and alter the snake layout of products before checkout. These changes could limit the financial and operational capacity to tailor aisle layouts for Gen Alpha. As a mitigation, Sephora can implement the proposed digital and QR solutions immediately. QR codes could be added to existing displays to promote suitable Gen Alpha products. Sephora should analyze sales data and in-store traffic patterns to better assess demand after implementation to identify the need for more Gen Alpha-focused solutions. Rather than committing to large-scale aisle redesigns right away, Sephora could also test small-scale modifications, such as pop-ups or seasonal displays, in selected stores after assessing the performance of these changes.
Setting the Foundation
Gen Alpha represents a significant opportunity for Sephora as they mature and gain more spending power. However, Sephora’s current strategy has not fully captured this emerging demographic. By adapting its strategic approach, Sephora can engage younger consumers while preserving the brand’s premium experience for existing customers. This proactive strategy will build long-term brand loyalty with Gen Alpha, while preventing potential dissatisfaction and backlash from other customer segments.
