The Beauty Industry

It’s undeniable that Beauty has become a billion-dollar industry, with many big names jumping in the ride and launching their own products, Kim K, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, or Selena Gomez, to name a few. These incredible ladies not only built a successful brand but are influencing the industry. Many YouTubers are also taking an interest in the Beauty industry and starting their own brand. Last year the Beauty community went crazy over Jeffree Star and Shane Dawson’s launch of The Conspiracy Collection, which sold 1 million palettes in 30 minutes (1). Beauty now is a $160-billion-a-year industry, expected to grow even bigger in the upcoming years. It’s no surprise that a big market like Amazon wants to have a share of this enormous industry and is aggressively pursuing beauty brands.

In the summer of 2017, Amazon made the beauty category ungated for the first time. Previously, brands needed to go through an approval process before listing in the beauty category. So while this news makes it appear like it should be easier than ever for beauty brands to sell on Amazon, they also introduced two new sub-categories available through a specific application process: Luxury Beauty, now known as Premium Beauty, and Professional Beauty. (2)

LUXURY BEAUTY

Defined by Amazon as “top brands to offer you a wide range of high-end products for women and men.”  This category is home to unmistakable brands like Burberry and Calvin Klein; brands are accustomed to associating with luxury. But among these well-known names are some top quality, but lesser-known brands. (2)

PROFESSIONAL BEAUTY

The second subcategory within the beauty that Amazon has gated is professional beauty. Amazon has this to say about the Professional Beauty Category: 

“What is Amazon Professional Beauty? Amazon has curated a selection of high-quality products that can be found in professional settings such as salons, spas, and dermatology offices.”

These are the items your hairstylist stocks in her salon or a professional makeup artist or theatre professional uses. (2)

While Luxury Beauty is invite-only, you can apply for approval for Professional Beauty. To sell as a Professional beauty account, after signing for approval, you’ll be asked to submit your beauty license. Amazon accepts all appropriate stylist and beauty professional licenses as required under applicable laws and regulations, such as cosmetology, barber, manicurist, esthetician, etc. (“Cosmetology” license). (3)

Why should you consider Luxury Beauty?

All categories on Amazon include brands that are sold through both 1P and 3P. The only exception has been Amazon Luxury Beauty. Since Amazon launched the Luxury Beauty category over five years ago, it has been a gated environment with no unauthorized sellers allowed. This differs from all other shopping categories; Luxury Beauty was special in that it was reserved for high-end prestige brands only. Inclusion in the category was invite-only, based upon Amazon’s discretion, and dependent on external retail distribution. Brands were able to participate in Luxury Beauty as vendors only—until recently. A few months ago, we noticed that Amazon slowly (and quietly) began to open up Luxury Beauty to the 3P side, supporting the company-wide shift to the marketplace. Now, beauty brands can join Luxury Beauty without having to opt into the 1P model.

Given that Luxury Beauty is a completely gated category—and the only one of its kind on Amazon—no unauthorized sellers are allowed. For vendors, this active removal of unauthorized sellers was included in the hefty Luxury Beauty fees. Now, marketplace sellers in this category will receive this perk, but at an additional cost (typically a 15%), on top of their standard 3P fees. (4)

How can you classify for Luxury Beauty? 

There have been no outlined guidelines that have been made public for brands to follow in order to be welcomed into this exclusive category.

How can we help you? 

At Bellavix, we are experts in getting your Amazon business to the next level. With a deep understanding of the beauty space, we can impact your brand growth on the platform.  If you want to know if Amazon Luxury Beauty is the right approach for your brand, reach out to us. 

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