<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Sephora is getting a little more digital. Today the beauty chain rolled out a completely updated website with Pinterest and Instagram integration, an updated mobile site, and officially launched a program that will bring iPads to the store's sales counters and put iPod touch point-of-sale devices in the hands of many of its sales associates.\n\u201CBeauty has passionate shoppers, and Sephora is the mecca of beauty\u201D Julie Bornstein, Senior Vice President of Sephora Direct told Mashable. She describes today's updates as \u201CWhere beauty meets intelligence.\u201D\nPinterest integration is something that many brands have started to embrace, however, Sephora is taking that integration a step further. Every item on Sephora's online store now has a \u201CPin It\u201D button you can click to add the item to one of your boards on the site. Where Sephora takes its Pinterest integration to the next level, however, is in its own Pinterest account. \nStarting today shoppers will be able to browse the Pinterest boards of Sephora employees, and see what products are their favorites. \u201CThese are people who get to try every product,\u201D Bornstien says, which gives their opinions of what products are best a little more weight.\n\nThe company has also added a new feed on Instagram where you can get a behind-the-scenes look at Sephora and its staff, as well as what trends are hot in the beauty world \u2013we hear a color called Tangerine Tango is making headlines these days.\nIn addition to the Pinterest integration, every product on the new website has been tagged with 25 different characteristics such as target age group, ingredients, and price so you can narrow down a particular search while you shop. The tagging process took a team of 50 employees 5,000 hours to fully index and tag. The result Sephora hopes is a incredibly targeted and personal experience when shopping on its site.\nProducts on the site also now have color views, so if you're looking for something like a purple eye shadow you can hover over the color and see what that product would really look like.\nSephora.com  also now offers store availability information, so you can find out if the eye shadow you need is in stock, and keeps track of your past purchases and samples you've received (including those in store) so you can keep track of your purchases and use that information to make future ones. For instance, if you purchased a lip gloss you loved while on vacation, you'll be able to see exactly what it was on the site and be able to order it right then or find out whether it's available at the Sephora near you. That information is also available in the mobile version of the site.\nWhile you're at a Sephora store you can use your iPhone to scan products off the shelves and read reviews. The company has also added iPads to the Beauty Center in 20 of its stores that can be used to navigate the website, as well as view the menu of services available at the center. Store associates are now equipped with iPod touch point-of-sale devices \u2013- something that has been in testing for the past 6 months\u2014 that can be used to make purchases or reference the store's website while on the move.\nDigital is a huge part of Sephora\u2019s business. The company has seen a 300% increase over the past year in mobile shopping on its website, with 70% of its mobile traffic coming from iOS devices. iPad traffic to Sephora.com is up 400% in Q1 of 2012 over the same period last year, and 20% of all of the traffic to the site comes from mobile devices.\n\u201CDigital is a must for the future of retailing,\u201D says Bornstein. \u201CWith social, digital, mobile and website updates, we're giving our clients the most personalized experience ever seen in the beauty industry, and connecting clients with our experts in ways that are most relevant to them. We're excited to makeover the future of shopping.\u201D"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2012/04/09/sephora-makeover/>