Digital beauty retailer Sephora has announced the appointment of DHL Supply Chain as its lead UK logistics provider for the next five years, as the pair unveiled a new omni-channel distribution centre in Coventry featuring warehouse automation solutions.
As part of the deal, DHL will be responsible for ‘warehousing, e-commerce fulfilment and Sephora’s UK transport network’.
DHL’s digital manufacturing division has ‘developed tailored in-house solutions to optimise operations based on Sephora’s needs and based on its specialist knowledge of the beauty industry’.
It is also deploying pick-assisting robots to ‘support fluctuating demand, while maintaining high quality control’.
Sarah Boyd, UK managing director at Sephora, said: “We are delighted to be working with DHL. The UK is a really important growth market for our business and one with huge potential.
“Sephora UK’s new omni-channel distribution centre is powered by DHL’s first carbon-neutral site, and is a significant milestone in our sustainability journey. The transition of our supply chain to this state-of-the-art facility is an absolutely pivotal project that underpins our UK expansion.
“It is critical to us that we ensure our growth is sustainable, as we reduce our carbon footprint and provide an excellent working environment for our teams in the warehouse.”
Natalie Frow, managing director of e-commerce and retail at DHL Supply Chain, added: “Sephora’s relaunch was a major moment for UK retail and the iconic brand has made a huge impact in a short space of time.
“Our team is delighted to be working with a business so open to collaboration and innovation, that shares our values for driving sustainable logistics and being a great place to work. We’re proud to be supporting Sephora on its expansion journey and helping the business shape the UK beauty industry.”
DHL’s new West Midlands distribution centre is a multi-user facility, ‘entirely powered by renewable electricity’, and is the company’s first operationally carbon-neutral new-build site in the UK.
The site, which DHL describes as one of its most sustainable in Europe, has been ‘designed with employee wellbeing front and centre’ and features ‘sustainable, recycled and natural materials throughout the site’.
