- Sephora.com Launches “Ratings and Reviews,” Bringing Even More Information Than Ever To Beauty Seekers

World’s Largest Prestige Beauty Website Helps Clients Make Best Informed Decisions through “Sephora Star” Ratings and Product Reviews from Shoppers and Experts

San Francisco, CA, September 4, 2008 – Sephora U.S. launched an innovative new “Ratings & Reviews” function from Bazaarvoice for each of the thousands of products sold on sephora.com, the largest and most visited e-commerce site in the prestige beauty industry. Reflecting Sephora’s commitment to helping clients make the best informed beauty decisions, the new Ratings & Reviews feature provides extensive information about individual products and brands, including a “Sephora Star” rating, reviews from experts and shoppers and a chance for beauty seekers’ questions to be answered.

“A critical part of Sephora’s revolutionary approach is our dedication to providing as much information as we can about trends, brands, products and how to use them. The addition of ‘Ratings & Reviews’ to sephora.com is clear evidence of our commitment to ensuring our clients are as informed as they want to be when making beauty buying decisions either online or when they come into our stores,” said Julie Bornstein, Sephora’s Senior Vice President of Sephora Direct. “In addition, we will use what we learn from our clients’ reviews to work with our brand partners and make the Sephora experience even better.”

The Bazaarvoice Ratings & Reviews functions on sephora.com include:

Sephora Star ratings on every product page
Product reviews from Sephora experts and from experts at our brand partners, with “Badges” identifying the reviewer
Reviews from site visitors who have used the products, including Sephora Beauty Insiders
An “About You” section for all client reviewers that provides context (i.e., sensitive skin)
A browsing feature for top-rated products
A Q&A; feature, to receive answers from Sephora and brand experts, and other clients

Bridget Dolan, Vice President of Direct Marketing, added, “Our clients told us that in addition to seeking as much information as they can get, they also wanted a more interactive way to share their views with us and each other, bringing ‘word of mouth’ referrals to a whole new level. The launch of Ratings & Reviews, with our unique addition of input from experts at Sephora and our brands, reflects our goal of leveraging technology to give clients what they want and need, right at their fingertips. We are proud that our clients see Sephora.com as an incredible resource and we are consistently focused on making it more relevant.”

Sephora is working with Bazaarvoice to provide the best online consumer experience and maximize the use of user-generated review content for all Sephora shoppers. Bazaarvoice offers Sephora access to the industry’s most comprehensive social commerce platform, including customizable hosted technology, advanced analytics and expert client services.

“Consumers are increasingly going online to read reviews and research products before making a purchase in any channel,“ said Brett Hurt, founder and CEO of Bazaarvoice. “Bazaarvoice Ratings & Reviews allows Sephora shoppers to share their expert opinions about products and make the best possible purchase decisions. We are thrilled to work alongside Sephora as they provide the best possible online experience for their loyal customers.”

Sephora.com is so Beauti-full: Ratings & Reviews is only the latest addition to the extensive beauty information provided on sephora.com. In addition to featuring more than 200 brands in the categories of: makeup, skincare, fragrance, bath & body, hair, tools, beauty for men, natural & organic, and gifts and a gift registry, the site also provides easy ways to access products that are new to Sephora and the beauty market, “travel-size beauty”, “cult favorites,” “what’s hot now,”… and the list goes on. Sephora.com also has an online magazine, Beauty Central, with everything from tips, trends and in-depth product information to feature stories and “how-to” videos, and the site is host to “Beauty and the Blog,” which is where Sephora beauty experts and guest bloggers dish on beauty news, trends and gossip.

Launched in the U.S. in 1999 and Canada in 2003, Sephora.com is the foremost prestige beauty site on the Internet and Sephora’s largest North American store in terms of sales and selection of products and brands.

About Sephora
Sephora, the beauty authority, revolutionized the global beauty industry with its unique retail concept rooted in a powerful combination of unparalleled brand and product assortment, distinctive store design and the beauty expertise of its sales consultants. Sephora offers clients a choice of more than 200 classic and emerging beauty brands across a broad range of product categories including skincare, makeup, fragrance, bath & body, hair care, smile care and tools, as well as the company’s own private label. Sephora was founded in France in 1969 and acquired by Paris-based LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world`s leading luxury products group, in 1997. Now, celebrating their 10th Anniversary in 2008, Sephora America operates more than 220 stores in the United States and Canada, and the world’s top beauty website, Sephora.com. Sephora Europe has more than 500 stores within 14 countries and has established 30 locations in China. Thanks to Sephora’s recent partnerships with HSN, a global multi-channel retailing giant, and JCPenney, one of America’s largest department stores, the beauty authority is now accessible to more clients than ever before.

About Bazaarvoice
Bazaarvoice offers outsourced technology, services, analytics, and expertise to help companies enhance the online shopping experience with social commerce applications that drive sales. Bazaarvoice Ratings & Reviews™, Ask & Answer™, and Stories™ deliver immediate success by minimizing implementation risk and maximizing the strategic impact of user-generated review content through complete customization, deep integration, community management, advanced analytics, search engine optimization, and syndication across the Web and to offline channels.

Bazaarvoice was named to the 2007 Red Herring Global 100 and 2006 Red Herring Top 100 lists and received the 2006 ClickZ Marketing Innovation of the Year award. Bazaarvoice currently serves over 200 eCommerce leaders including Borders, Dell, Macy’s, Office Depot, Inc., Overstock.com, PETCO, P&G;, QVC, Sears, and ZipRealty. The company has headquarters in Austin, TX, and offices in London, Paris, and Singapore. For more information, please visit the company’s Web site at www.bazaarvoice.com, read the blog at www.bazaarblog.com, or email info@bazaarvoice.com.