Sephora Beauty Distribution

Before Sephora, buying makeup was tribal. Department stores hired salespeople trained on one brand. A clinic girl wouldn't mention Estee Lauder. A Lancome girl wouldn't mention Dior. Brands created loyalty through gatekeeping. You needed to know the girl at the counter and trust her narrative. Sephora inverted the entire model. All brands sat next to each other. Try the Dior lipstick, try the Givenchy, try the Charlotte Tilbury. The customer decides no commissions, no gatekeeping. Brands spent decades building exclusive relationships with department store salespeople. Suddenly Sephora made everyone transparent and comparable. But brands didn't lose money. They grew faster. Sephora solved a customer problem so acute that discovery was worth more than artificial scarcity.