"[Customers] want entertainment and they are not thinking about channels, expecting retailers will make it as easy as possible for them," said Mary Beth Laughton, senior vice president of digital for Sephora. "Over 80 percent of shoppers use mobile before and after their shopping trip."

Laughton said Sephora has a two-part strategy to both feed the customer's mobile addiction and embed it throughout the entire journey to inspire and teach across channels.

She said mobile is used to drive the customer into the store and online experience, while engaging and inspiring her to return once she's left, creating engagement through various interactions across channels. Sephora provides location-based mobile messaging that is highly relevant and adds a lot of value for clients, Laughton said.

Sephora is also infusing chat into the customer journey, with its Sephora Assistant on Facebook Messenger.

"We know clients spend a vast majority of their time on chat and social sites, so we want to be part of the conversation," said Laughton.

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