As entrenched beauty players sidestep Amazon, the e-commerce giant offers an unprecedented opportunity for indie beauty entrepreneurs. “It’s the new Walmart. For years, Walmart represented 30% to 40% of a brand’s business, and brands became beholden to it. What I like right now about Amazon is brands can do that kind of business, but Amazon is not holding them hostage,” says Andrea Van Dam, CEO of the agency Women’s Marketing. “They aren’t forcing them to spend money in certain ways to maintain distribution. That’s massive for smaller brands. They can really compete with larger brands because there’s virtually zero barrier to entry. It’s a great time to launch a brand.” Amazon is upending the traditional rules of beauty retailing, and that’s left many brands wondering about the rules of beauty distribution being written today. While the landscape is certainly evolving, Van Dam guided Beauty Independent through four phases of Amazon development that brands travel to generate formidable sales on the platform.
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