Sephora evolves with Slim4 to help growth in the region

The French perfume and cosmetics retailer, Sephora, will implement Slim4 in the United Arab Emirates. “We must increase in-store availability to 99% while achieving a supply chain reduction of 25%,” stated head of supply chain, Sandeep Walia in an interview with the Logistics Middle East magazine.

The French-owned business is active in 33 countries and has 2,300 stores worldwide. The company is experiencing unprecedented growth in Dubai and the rest of the United Arab Emirates. “The number of SKU / store combinations has increased enormously in recent years” stated Walia in the article which was published this month. “To put it in perspective: our flagship store in Dubai alone sells more items than some entire national markets in Europe.”

In order to meet the high expectations of customers and avoid missing out on turnover, high store availability is crucial for a high-end retail chain such as Sephora. To maintain the highest possible service, Sephora decided to implement Slimstock’s software, Slim4. “Slim4 ensures the right availability per SKU and also enables us to reduce the supply chain costs by as much as 25%.” The latter is achieved, among other things, by preventing over-supply and reducing rush orders.

Slim4 will also help improve the efficiency of the planning process, allowing Sephora increase the rate at which the business can roll out new stores. “What used to take a team of 8 supply chain professionals hours to plan now takes just a few clicks in Slim4. They are now able to spend that time on things that offer more added value,” explains Walia. For a new store, the demand profile of a comparable store can easily be copied. Slim4 then automatically determines the initial allocation and adjusts it on a daily basis depending on the development of demand.