This week Canopy, the DTC humidifier and showerhead startup, will expand its physical presence with a national Sephora launch.
A curated Canopy assortment will be available at all Sephora doors that have a devices section, which is just over 100 locations. According to Canopy, its products are the first home devices to be sold in Sephora stores
The launch comes two years after Canopy began selling on Sephora online to test what products resonated with the beauty retailer’s shoppers. Canopy launched with its bedside humidifier in 2020, and has since positioned its products as beauty tools that provide holistic skin care regimens. The Sephora lineup will include Canopy’s portable humidifier, the Ritual aroma oil kit and filtered showerheads. According to the company, selling these appliances in Sephora stores signals a shift in beauty merchandising. With more shelf space dedicated to tools and devices, beauty retailers are no longer limited to selling makeup and skin care products.
Lucas Lappe, co-founder of Canopy, said the Sephora launch was possible because of the steps the brand took to diversify its product assortment. “A big reason why we’re going into stores is the decrease in seasonality of our new products,” he said. After all, humidifiers are most popular during colder months. In August 2023, Canopy also launched a water filtration showerhead. The company added a handheld version in May. This move makes for more consistent sales throughout the years as opposed to just the winter months.
In turn, showerhead filters have become a big part of the company’s business. This year Canopy’s water filtration line has experienced over 200% year-over-year growth. Moreover, the brand’s product assortment on Sephora’s website increased by 88% between 2023 and 2024, which helped support the case for Canopy going into Sephora stores.
Key priorities for Canopy as it prepared to launch in Sephora stores were making sure stores have in-demand product colors and making sure the packaging was small enough to fit on an eye-level shelf. “We had a strict eight-inch height requirement for all the products, which was fun to develop around,” Luppe said.
Like many digitally-native brands, Luppe said being in-store also allows customers to see the humidifier and filtered water products in person. Canopy demo samples will be placed on shelves, with every Sephora store receiving demo products for the sales floor associates to learn about the products. Canopy is also organizing a series of activations at Sephora stores to showcase its products. “We’ll especially be doing them with our partner brands that also sell at Sephora,” Lappe said.
As for being merchandised alongside traditional beauty categories like skin care and makeup, Lappe said it signals consumers’ growing interest in devices as beauty tools. “The beauty-obsessed customer is one of our segments, and that consumer is browsing and discovering products at Sephora,” Lappe said.
Canopy co-founder Justin Seidenfeld said the Sephora customer has already proven to be unique among its other retail partners’ shoppers. Other beauty retail partners, where Canopy sells online, include Bluemercury and Violet Grey.
Bringing the Sephora customer into the fold is a balancing act for Canopy. One of the brand’s subscription growth drivers is from customers who purchased their device from a retail partner. “We want the Sephora customer to opt into our subscription,” Seidenfeld said. “But we’ve seen a ton of customers buying the filters on Sephora’s website, so we want to lean into that strategy.”
With the beauty space evolving, more beauty-focused retailers are expected to dedicate shelf space to devices and tools. Rachel Hirsch, founder and managing partner of Wellness Growth Ventures, said this expanded definition now includes body care, hair care and a wide range of tools and products that support overall well-being.
The shift in consumer demand is what’s driving retailers to diversify their offerings, Hirsch continued, “including allocating more shelf space to products that cater to this holistic approach to beauty.”
On the other hand, the expansion of what’s considered a beauty product can also make it more challenging for emerging brands to compete for physical space. “It’s similar to how Sephora and Ulta are trying to bring in more early-stage brands while having a fixed amount of square footage,” Hirsch said.
Canopy’s online and offline growth is expected to spike toward the end of the year, with the brand planning for new products that will also be available at Sephora. “We’ve invested in educating the target Sephora customer about the benefits of our products for skin health,” Seidenfeld said.
