Sephora Store's Introvert-Friendly Shopping Baskets Let Salespeople Know If You Want Help Or Not

Prepare to fall in love with the color-coded baskets that could help you shop in glorious solitude

You know the drill. You walk into a store and size the situation up, calculating how quickly you can grab a basket and seek cover in the closest aisle. If you falter, you’ll fall prey to the eager salespeople roaming the floor, just waiting to ensnare you with questions about your beauty routine and skincare needs.

Unless that is, you happen to be at the Sephora in Europe with a color-coded shopping basket system. At this fabled store, color-coded baskets make it clear if you want assistance or if you’d rather have your eye-teeth pulled than have someone approach you. Spoiler alert? It’s tantamount to an introvert’s dream.

And thanks to Sephora shopper and Twitter sharer Cami Williams, we now know these genius baskets exist. “There is a fellow introvert on the Sephora customer experience team who deserves a raise right now,” Williams captioned a picture of a European Sephora’s red and black baskets.

The color red, as a sign explains, indicates that shoppers would “like to be assisted.” Black is for those who would like to shop on their own. You don’t have to be an introvert to appreciate the option to shop unbothered. You know, by anything other than the voice in your head telling you that you don’t need another blending bud.

Granted, it goes without saying that there’s nothing wrong with salespeople. In fact, their eagerness to help suggests they’re hella good at their jobs. But if you’re an introvert, you’d probably just prefer to shop in solitude, tossing youth serums and lip gloss sets in your basket with reckless abandon. A simple trip to the store for some proves an anxiety-inducing nightmare for an introvert if they feel like they’re being cornered into conversation on the sales floor.

If you’re thinking Sephora’s color-coded system is too good to be true, well, don’t. It really does exist. Per Allure, a Sephora rep confirmed its European Sephora stores offer the option. Alas, the baskets haven’t made their way to U.S. stores just yet.

Sephora isn’t alone in color-coding their baskets, either. Back in 2016, the Daily Dot reported that Korean beauty store Innisfree offers a similar system. Their colored basket tags indicate if you want (or don’t want) assistance. The chain offers the smart system in its stores throughout Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. So, now that Sephora is making headlines for doing essentially the same, maybe the trend will kick off in North America.

And, hey, perhaps car dealerships will one day find a way to translate it to the car-buying experience. Although, erm, let’s not hinge our hopes and dreams on that one. For now, let’s focus on this little win and its potential implications.