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When it comes to affiliate sales, Sephora goes straight to the source.
Last month, the beauty retailer launched My Sephora Storefront, an affiliate program that allows creators to showcase their favorite products on Sephora’s website, generate shareable, shoppable social media links and earn sales commissions.
It’s the latest sign of growth for the creator commerce and affiliate space, and it will continue to be so worth $16 billion by 2028 and is currently dominated by third-party partner platforms such as LTK, ShopMy and TikTok Shop, as well as retailers such as Amazon with Amazon Storefront. Last month, Conde Nast announced it was developing its own storefront, called Vette, which will debut next year.
As creator influence continues to grow, Brent Mitchell, vice president of social media and influencer marketing at Sephora, said he sees the retailer’s ability to offer monetization opportunities to creators expanding as well. He said Sephora already has 1,000 live creator stores, exceeding the company’s initial expectations for the rest of the year.
“We really see ourselves as an addition to this ecosystem,” he said.
Continue the chase
Mitchell said the timing of the Storefronts release is to tie in with the annual Sephora Savings event later this month, which he called “UGC-palooza,” and to prepare for the holiday season, which is ripe for gifting and shopping based on creator recommendations.
Sephora began marketing its Storefronts two weeks ago at an event in LA, where Mitchell said more than 200 makers signed up on the spot. Currently, Sephora limits applications to creators with more than 3,000 followers on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, which Mitchell said are the brand’s platforms of interest; it’s also looking for creators who can represent Sephora well while driving sales conversions.
“They are not brand ambassadors like our Sephora Squad program is,” he said. “But they do get the Sephora.com URL, which is pretty important.”
The plan, Mitchell said, is to eventually scale up the program and open it up to an even broader audience that meets the application criteria. The idea is to connect with creators who have never worked with Sephora, or who have signed up but may not have qualified for the Sephora Squad paid partnership program, which has produced a lineup of more than 300 creators and alumni who regularly work with the retailer.
“We have so many creators already tagging us during their store visits,” he said. “Now we’re giving them the opportunity to get paid for that content.”
Buy here, not there
Sephora offers a 15% commission on Storefront sales, which is in line with the commissions on ShopMy and LTK, which typically range between 10% and 30%, according to the platforms’ websites. Mitchell said he also hopes to roll out “IRL rewards” and additional incentives for creators as the program scales, and bring more third-party brands into the Storefront ecosystem.
“We already have a waiting list of brands that want to participate in this program,” he said. “That is definitely one of our biggest priorities for 2026.”
Despite the competition in the affiliate space, Mitchell says he thinks there’s plenty of room for everyone.
“We’re able to bring in new creators who had never thought about this before,” he said. “And on the other hand, for those super-active micro-creators who are converting superstars, we are yet another platform for them to convert on. It really complements both ends of the spectrum.”
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