Have you ever been shopping while Black? If so, then you may have experienced discriminatory treatment while shopping in certain retail stores, which could include being accused of stealing or being followed by security guards. Well, beauty cosmetic giant Sephora plans on combatting racial bias, ABC News reports.
The makeup brand revealed the findings of a study that focused on racial bias and retail, and the results found several interesting findings, and now the company wants to take action.
According to Sephora, two in five retail shoppers in America have personally endured unfair treatment due to their race or skin tone. Black retail shoppers are 2.5 times more likely than their white counterparts to receive unfair treatment due to their skin color shopping—44% v. 17%. Black, Indigenous, and shoppers of color are also two times more likely than white shoppers to receive unfair treatment due to their ethnicity—30% v. 15%.
The study also probed at employee experiences regarding race and found that one in five retail employees experience unfair treatment based on their race at their workplace —20%. This comes from either a customer or a coworker. Another interesting finding was that one in three retail employees have considered quitting after their experience—31% for all and 37% for Black employees, the outlet reported.
The company also says that limited diversity across marketing, merchandise, and retail employees are associated with exclusionary treatment before shoppers even come into the store.
As a result of this racial bias experience, the study says that shoppers of color have adopted coping mechanisms like shopping online, minimizing an anticipated bias experience from going in the store.
“At Sephora, diversity, equality, and inclusion have been our core values since we launched a new kind of beauty retail destination in the U.S. over 20 years ago – but the reality is that shoppers at Sephora, and in U.S. retail more broadly, are not always treated fairly and consistently,” Jean-André Rougeot, president, and CEO, Sephora Americas said in a statement.
“We know that we’re in a strong position to influence positive changes in the retail industry and society at large, and it’s our responsibility to step up. We’re committed to doing all we can to make our U.S. retail experience more welcoming for everyone,” he added.
Sephora will implement an action plan which will include doubling its assortment of Black-owned brands by the end of this year, reducing the presence of third-party security vendors in stores and employing more in-house specialists to help customers and reduce shoppers’ concerns of policing, place a zero-tolerance policy that stops bans discrimination, harassment, and other violations of its code of conduct.
Two years ago, Sephora was blasted for racial discrimination by singer SZA after the store called security on her to make sure she wasn’t stealing.
The company quickly responded to SZA’s tweet and closed all of its U.S. stores on June 5 so that over 16,000 employees could participate in a one-hour inclusivity workshop, the outlet reported.
“This store closure is part of a long journey in our aspiration to create a more inclusive beauty community and workplace, which has included forming employee resource groups, building social impact and philanthropic programs, and hosting inclusive mindset training for all supervisors,” Sephora previously told, “Good Morning America.”
Now Sephora wants to progress by keeping shoppers aware of its change.
“We’re proud of the work we’ve done thus far to make diversity, equity, and inclusion a priority for the company,” said Rougeot in a statement. “We are stronger as a retail community when we are serving the needs of all of our shoppers, and hope other retailers will join us, with the ultimate goal of advancing inclusivity and improving the retail experience for all.”
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