The trend: Beauty companies are rapidly diversifying beyond traditional sales channels to adapt to changing consumer behaviors and seize opportunities made possible by ecommerce, social platforms, and digital tools. This push is designed to forge closer, more direct connections with shoppers.

The channel shakeup has been driven partly by the rise of specialty retailers like Ulta and Sephora and accelerated by the growth of online sales and direct-to-consumer models. These advances have made purchases more convenient, more affordable, and faster to fulfill.

Online is on top: Ecommerce has been a clear winner amid these channel changes.

Its share of worldwide beauty retail sales jumped 11 percentage points from 2019 to 2024, according to the Business of Fashion and McKinsey & Company’s June State of Fashion Beauty report, which surveyed more than 13,000 global consumers.

Legacy outlets lose: Traditional sales channels, meanwhile, have lost ground.

• Department stores represented 11% of global beauty sales in 2019, falling to 8% in 2024, per the State of Fashion Beauty. That share is projected to be 7% by 2030.
• Drugstores and pharmacies fell from 15% in 2019 to 13% in 2024, with further declines expected.
• Travel retail (sales at airports, cruise ships, and duty-free shops) dropped from 10% in 2019 to 7% in 2024.

Brands diversify: As sales channels have fragmented, beauty companies have expanded beyond traditional channels.

• L’Oreal has pivoted heavily to digital, investing in ecommerce and enhancing the shopping experience with AR makeup try-on capabilities.
• Estée Lauder has diversified to online marketplaces like Amazon and TikTok Shop. Its online sales hit records in fiscal 2025 (ended June 30, 2025). Eleven of its brands have Amazon storefronts, up from just three the prior year.
• Fenty Beauty has leaned into social media and immersive digital experiences. Earlier this year, it launched a shoppable experience on Roblox.

Our take: In beauty, selling through multiple channels is no longer a choice. Consumers now shop across apps, websites, social media and stores, and brands that don’t meet them where they are will lose out.

Still, distribution alone won’t set brands apart. Beauty companies that win will offer technology like AR try-ons, use their physical stores as hubs where people can gather for makeup classes and to sample products, and sell through external retailers like Amazon while also beefing up their own direct channels.