text: Beauty retailer Sephora is upping its convenience game, launching an unlimited same-day delivery subscription for $49 per year, through its website or the Sephora app, a service not offered by main rival Ulta Beauty, which charges $9.95 per delivery without the app option.
  The program has no order minimum and includes a free 30-day trial. Orders arrive in as little as two hours, and shoppers have to order by the cutoff time noted on the product page. Same-day delivery is not available from every location, but Sephora offers free shipping for all members of its Beauty Insider loyalty program. Members of that program earn points by signing up for the same-day subscription.
  In September, Sephora expanded free standard shipping for all of its loyalty program members, whether paid or free. Previously, it had been available only to its top-tier members who spend more than $1,000 a year; those at the $350 level could get free shipping at the $35 threshold.
  A June survey conducted by Dynasta on behalf of Sephora found that fast delivery was top of mind for most of its customers. Sixty-three percent of respondents said the reason they would use same-day delivery is because they ran out of a favorite beauty product and needed it fast.
  And in July, Sephora upgraded its ecommerce platform to Commercetools, according to Modern Retail, saying it would improve the same-day delivery and curbside experience for its customers. Sephora CTO Sree Sreedhararaj said, the tech upgrade “allows us to enhance, adapt and create nimble seamless experiences for our clients across all our features, including but not limited to BOPIS, Same Day Delivery, Checkout and so much more.”
  Sephora uses Texas-based startup Delivery Solutions for its same-day delivery services. The company was acquired in June by UPS. Other clients include Walmart, Abercrombie & Fitch, Giant Eagle and Office Depot. The beauty retailer also uses Target unit Shipt and Instacart.