Manchester is finally ready to welcome its first-ever Sephora store as the cult beauty retailer heads north.
The huge shop, which officially opens tomorrow at the Trafford Centre, is stuffed full of luxury skincare, haircare and makeup, including several brands that are usually hard to find in the UK.
There are exclusive-to-Sephora brands in store like Makeup by Mario, Haus Labs by Lady Gaga, Topicals, and their own Sephora Collection range of affordable beauty items.
Plus it’s a chance to browse hit names like Glossier, famed for their liquid blushes and ‘Boy Brow’ gels, in person.
Selena Gomez’s Rare beauty, loved by people of all ages for its ‘clean girl’ aesthetic, is also available to shop inside the new Sephora.
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As for skincare, you’ll find Drunk Elephant, The Ordinary, Sol de Janeiro, Supergoop, Sunday Riley, Paula’s Choice, Mario Badescu and loads more.
Inside the huge Sephora ManchesterThe beauty hub in the heart of Sephora ManchesterSephora’s cult favourite minis
That’s all alongside classic make-up names like Bobbi Brown, Estee Lauder, Lancome, and Benefit.
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There’s also a huge range of fragrance for men and women.
One of Sephora’s most popular features is its minis – tiny versions of some of its best-sellers for those who are a little indecisive, frequent fliers, or don’t want to splurge on a full-sized new product.
And as for haircare, alongside rows and rows of shampoos, conditioners and styling products, are electronic brands like Dyson, Shark and GHD.
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In the heart of the huge new Trafford Centre Sephora is a beauty studio, offering makeovers and skincare including a Manchester exclusive with Grown Alchemist.
If you’re totally overwhelmed by the choices on offer, there are several edits of products arranged around the shop, grouped by concern – so a whole display of the best lip products, another for eyes, and so on.
An Eyes ‘must-haves’ editThe OrdinaryRare Beauty
It’s only the third Sephora to open in the entire country, with the other two both based in London.
Sephora fever seems to have fully gripped the Trafford Centre, which has plastered black and white decor everywhere in celebration of the new arrival.
There’s even a monochrome striped staircase leading to the new store, banners outside, and huge posters hanging from the shopping centre’s ceilings.
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And it’s only going to get bigger after today – to celebrate its launch, 500 goodie bags will be given away to the first people in the queue on Sephora’s official launch day, Thursday 16 May.
Tesco is trialling personalised Clubcard prices giving shoppers even cheaper offers
Emily Sergeant
Tesco has started trialling personalised Clubcard offers which give customers tailored prices based on their purchases.
The supermarket‘s Clubcard loyalty scheme has more than 20 million people signed-up nationwide, making it one of the most popular of its kind on the market, by far – but over the coming weeks, prices could begin to get cheaper for some than they already are as part of the new ‘Your Clubcard Prices’ scheme being trialled.
The scheme, which is being launched nationwide to a select group of people, will see shoppers sent new personalised offers every Wednesday, on top of all other existing deals.
These will be sent via the Tesco Clubcard app, and added automatically at the checkout.
Tesco is trialling personalised Clubcard prices giving shoppers even cheaper offers / Credit: The Manc Group
At this moment in time, it’s believed to be unclear how many people are a part of the trial, and also how long the trial will last for.
What we do know, however, is that customers will be able to use their personalised offers multiple times for a total of seven days in larger Tesco stores, but at present, they unfortunately can’t be used in Express locations.
“We are constantly looking for ways to make Clubcard work harder for our customers,” a Tesco spokesperson explained.
“We are currently offering Your Clubcard Prices to a trial group of our Clubcard members, giving them offers on products they regularly buy at Tesco, in addition to the thousands of Clubcard Prices available to all Clubcard members each week.”
The news that Tesco is trialling personalised Clubcard offers comes after the retailer was advised by leading consumer watchdog, Which?, last February to make prices clearer for customers.
It also comes after the UK’s cheapest supermarket of 2024 has was revealed.
Featured Image – Tesco
Shopping
New survey reveals one in three shoppers admits to stealing at self-checkouts
Emily Sergeant
Almost 40% of UK shoppers have failed to scan at least one item when using self-checkouts, new research has revealed.
Self-checkouts started to become popular in the UK in the 1990s, and since then have evolved to meet consumer demands and solve the problem of queueing, especially taking on a life of their own in supermarkets from the 2010s onwards… but now, some exclusive new research for The Grocer has revealed that could be causing more hassle than they’re worth.
A national survey of more than 1,000 shoppers found that only 63% said they ‘never’ failed to scan an item when using self-checkouts, which leaves almost two in five who do so at least occasionally.
A third (32%) also admitted to having weighed loose items incorrectly, while 38% said they had put through an incorrect loose item.
Experts say these statistics show that “a new breed of shoplifter” has been created.
A new survey has revealed that one in three shoppers admits to stealing at self-checkouts / Credit: Aldi
“You’re creating opportunities for people who otherwise wouldn’t even think about shoplifting,” commented Matt Hopkins, who is an associate professor in criminology at the University of Leicester,
When it comes to the biggest culprits of failing to scan items at self-checkouts, the survey revealed that the under 35 age group, and men overall, came out as the most common, but it’s unclear whether this could be blamed on system error, missing barcodes, or rushing shoppers, instead of being intentional.
Surprisingly though, despite public perception and a recent headline-grabbing move by supermarket chain Booths to remove self-service checkouts from all but a select few of its busiest stores, this new research also shows that shoppers actually prefer to use self-checkouts (54.2%), over staffed checkouts (29.8%).
“In a short space of time, the self-checkout option has gone from zero to an accepted norm – and now to an active preference for many,” commented Lucia Juliano, the UK head of research and client success at Harris Interactive.
The speed and relative freedom provided by self-checkouts were the main advantages of using them, according to shoppers, with 56% choosing to use them because they’re faster.
52% cited the fact that self-checkouts allow them to ‘go at [their] own pace’.
Juliano did, however, comment that shoppers’ preference for self-checkouts may only be a reality “when there are no tech issues during the transaction”, which is said to be the “biggest bugbear by far” according to the survey.