Creators have long been able to direct their followers to buy the products they showcase on their pages from retailers like Amazon or third-party affiliate platforms like LTK and Shopmy — while getting a commission of the sale, of course. Now, they can direct their audience to purchase their favorite lip combo or new blush find from one of beauty’s biggest retailers without losing out on a potential commission: Sephora.
In September, the LVMH-owned beauty behemoth launched My Sephora Storefront. Developed in partnership with the technology platform Motom, the feature allows creators to curate a selection of products available at Sephora and collect a 15% commission on any purchases made through their storefront. Creators ranging from Miami-based lifestyle influencer Farah Pink (265,000 followers on Instagram) to Seattle family vlogger Mackenzie Hughes (23,000 followers on Instagram) have already launched Sephora Storefronts as of October.
“This is a way for Sephora and these creators to build a relationship and for Sephora to be directly involved with them and their community,” said Brent Mitchell, vp of social media and influencer marketing at Sephora. “While there definitely are other affiliate programs out there, this gives the creators an opportunity to drive their community to a very trusted, well-regarded, inclusive space. Plus, it’s directly integrated with the Sephora Beauty Insider program, so the creators can drive their followers to the place where they’re still getting their Sephora points.”
The new platform gives Sephora the capability to compete with the seamless, social-first shopping capabilities of TikTok Shop and Amazon, which have increasingly encroached on Sephora’s territory with expanding beauty offerings. In September, the Puig-owned makeup brand Charlotte Tilbury launched on the Amazon Premium Beauty store, where it joined the likes of Too Faced and Milk Makeup. In May, Sephora-favorite brand Phlur drove $1.2 million in sales on TikTok Shop alone. In July, TikTok announced a partnership with the affiliate platform CJ to allow creators to earn commission on TikTok Shop links posted outside the app.
“TikTok Shop has accelerated social shopping in the U.S. faster than anyone could have imagined,” said Leslie Ann Hall, CEO and founder of e-commerce agency Iced Media. “In what is a very competitive and saturated landscape for beauty, TikTok now launching these universal links where TikTok Shop links can be posted on other platforms is making it even more competitive.”
Hall believes the new storefront feature could be a big win for Sephora-exclusive brands and brands that can entice creators to feature their items in their Sephora storefronts with inventive offerings. She said for Iced Media partners, offering exclusive deals on TikTok Shop has been a successful strategy in motivating creators to promote those items in their affiliate links has been a successful strategy in driving sales.
“If [brands] are able to curate their merchandising strategy on Sephora, that’s a huge advantage,” said Hall. “[Featuring] Sephora-exclusive items or exclusive shades for a limited time, when it’s only available there, that’s going to be a huge advantage for those Sephora brands.”
Going back to the early days of beauty YouTube when it became standard for vloggers to offer discount codes and affiliate links to products mentioned in their videos, online creators have been accustomed to monetizing their audience through a commission on the sales they drive. That’s created a generation of consumers accustomed to turning to online creators for direct recommendations on what eyeliner or what fragrance to purchase. According to LTK’s 2025 Creator Marketing Trends Report, 73% of Gen Zers and 57% of millennials rely on creators for purchase decisions.
Sephora is not the only company to see the value in affiliate marketing as the creator economy has grown. In September, publisher Condé Nast announced the creation of Vette, an e-commerce platform where creators can manage their own fashion storefronts, slated to launch in 2026.
“[Affiliate marketing] definitely has become more sophisticated. Sephora is obviously not a discount-driven brand, so that old school model of discount codes was less interesting to us,” said Mitchell. “Even bigger than affiliate marketing is just the creator economy — it continues to grow. No industry is more creative-driven than the beauty and fashion industries, and creators have more power in these industries than any other.”
Application to the My Sephora Storefront program is open only in the U.S. to creators who have at least 3,000 followers on either YouTube, TikTok or Instagram. According to Mitchell, Sephora will offer participants a 15% commission with a 15-day attribution window beginning October 6. Sephora will also host an event in Los Angeles on October 9 to educate creators on the program. The storefront will allow for a larger pool of creators to work with Sephora compared to the more exclusive Sephora Squad program, where application and vetting can take up to a year. Being admitted to the Sephora Squad program gives creators access to gratis, mentorship and the chance to be featured in Sephora marketing.
Whether or not that will be enough to give creators reason to divert their followers to Sephora rather than other platforms like Shopmy, where they may be able to earn a commission rate as high as 30%, remains to be seen.
“Products are being discovered obviously on social, and brands want to as much as possible collapse that funnel,” said Allison Matney, senior manager of affiliate partnerships at e-commerce agency Front Row. “On the creator side, we’re also hearing that there are so many platforms are out there today, and it’s a bit overwhelming to figure out where you’re getting the highest commission rate.”
The rise in affiliate marketing has allowed smaller-scale creators to monetize their accounts without possessing the massive follower counts often necessary for lucrative brand partnership deals. But for many creators, affiliate marketing still lags behind brand partnerships as a major income driver. According to influencer marketing agency The Digital Department’s 2025 Creator Report, 89% of creators monetize their accounts through brand partnerships, compared to 58% who use affiliate links.
But the future winners of affiliate marketing remain unknown as new companies join the landscape, and as TikTok’s algorithm itself is under scrutiny as the Trump administration brokers a deal to move TikTok’s U.S. operations to new ownership.
“We’ve seen through TikTok Shop the democratization of the creator economy,” said Hall. “You have an algorithm that doesn’t discriminate against people who are just getting started or don’t have tens or hundreds of thousands of followers. As we look to the future, what we, as business frameworks, really need to pay attention to is profitability. Who is going to pay for the cost of these affiliate programs? Because I can tell you that a lot of these brands need to take a close look at how these affiliate programs are eating into their margin.”
Sephora declined to share how many participants it expects to join the new storefront program, calling the first year a “learning opportunity” for the retailer. But the ultimate judge of the success of the program will be those consumers and whether or not they choose to follow their favorite creators to purchase products on Sephora or elsewhere.
“TikTok and social media is a discovery platform,” said Hall. “And people are ultimately going to shop where it’s most convenient for them.”
