French beauty giant Sephora has appointed Anca Marola to the role of global chief digital officer, effective February 12.
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She succeeds Marc Abergel.
Located within the global leadership team of parent company LVMH, Marola will report to Guillaume Motte, CEO of Sephora.
“Sephora is the only prestige beauty omnichannel retailer that is truly global. In each of the 35 markets where we operate, our customers expect a seamless, personalized and rich experience,” Motte said in an internal announcement obtained by WWD.
“This is a key driver to our success, and our ambition is clear: We want to continue to delight our community with the best of prestige beauty products and services. I am convinced that, thanks to her experience leading the LVMH data center of excellence, Anca will help us significantly in strengthening our great internal digital community, accelerating value creation through an ambitious data strategy and enhancing our customers’ omnichannel experience.”
Joining LVMH in 2014, Marola has led business intelligence, client and customer experience at the company, playing a key role in consolidating the group’s data strategy, implementing analytics and AI across the value chain with initiatives including the data academy and the research partnership with Stanford HAI.
Prior to that, she started her career in consulting and consumer research at GFK, where she worked for groups such as L’Oréal and Coca-Cola.
In 2022, Sephora reportedly achieved a turnover of EUR 12 billion, making it the second-largest brand in LVMH’s portfolio behind Louis Vuitton at EUR 20 billion, according to industry experts.
In its most recent trading update in October, LVMH reported organic sales inched forward just 1 percent for the three months ending September 30, to EUR 19.96 billion (USD 21.17 billion).
By division, wines and spirits clocked an organic sales plummet of 14 percent in the third quarter, while selective retailing (where Sephora sits) posted a 26 percent uptick. Watches and jewelry recorded a 3 percent increase, and perfumes and cosmetics were up 9 percent.
The fashion and leather goods division posted sales of EUR 9.75 billion in the third quarter, up 9 percent.