How Beauty Brands Are Choosing Between DTC and Physical Retail

That is why the move offline is not simply the next stage after ecommerce. Digital-first beauty brands have to decide what they need physical retail to do. Some need reach: more doors, more product trial and faster access to customers in many markets.

Others need control: a setting where the assortment, service and physical environment can carry the brand on their own. The distinction is visible in the different paths taken by Rhode and Fenty Beauty on one side, and KIKO Milano and Aesop on the other. Glossier shows how the two approaches can eventually work together.

Image: Fenty Beauty and Myer. Photography supplied for editorial coverage. Retailer-led expansion solves for reach Rhode built demand through its own site, social content, tightly edited assortment and temporary physical activations before choosing Sephora as its first permanent retail partner. The timing mattered. When e.l.f.

Beauty announced its agreement to acquire Rhode, it said the brand had generated $212 million in net sales in the 12 months ended March 31, 2025 and planned to enter Sephora across North America and the UK. The brand now receives several capabilities at once: established store traffic, product…