Kiehl’s Executive on How Partnering With Amazon Keeps the 173-Year-Old Company Fresh

Why it matters:

• Beauty brands, both heritage businesses and emerging startups, are using Amazon, the nation’s biggest online retailer, to reach greater scale.
• The strategy appears to have paid off for Kiehl’s: According to Market Defense, sales have surged by over 50% since the legacy beauty brand made its Amazon debut in May.
• Amazon also approved some Kiehl’s products to earn its Climate Pledge badge that identifies environmentally sustainable goods — an important distinction for a growing number of shoppers, particularly younger ones.

Kiehl’s Since 1851, owned by L’Oréal, is the latest premium beauty brand to add Amazon to its roster of retail partners.

The timing is fortuitous as the juggernaut online platform is on track to supplant Walmart as the nation’s largest beauty retailer by 2025, according to Bloomberg reporting numbers from Morgan Stanley.

Amazon sold a billion-plus beauty products to more than 100 million beauty customers in 2023, according to the company.

For many years, prestige companies like L’Oréal and Estee Lauder shied away from selling their upscale brands on Amazon. The theory held that selling on the site could detract from the prestige associated with brands and rile up their luxury retailers.

L’Oréal successfully tested the waters with Lancôme last year. Despite being a well-known name, exposure on the platform attracted new customers. Seventy-three percent of those who purchased, said Ashley Helgans, a Vice President at Jefferies, were new to the brand.

Kiehl’s courts young shoppers who buy premium beauty products online

Emboldened by the results, L’Oréal teed up Kiehl’s as its next brand to boost sales via Amazon. The brand, with roots dating back to its founding as an apothecary in New York City’s East Village, has a cadre of loyal fans. However, there is potential to expose its cult favorites like the Ultra Facial Cream and Calendula Herbal Extract Alcohol-Free Toner to a new audience, especially young shoppers accustomed to buying premium products online.

“We consider ourselves a lifestyle brand – meeting our customers where they are in their skin care journey – where they shop, their product needs, skin care education and routine building,” John Reed, General Manager of Kiehl’s, told CO—.

“Having that mindset and our focus on service has allowed us to adapt to the changing retail landscape over the past 170 years. We recognize the increasing importance of e-commerce, and Amazon offers convenience to our community and new consumers,” said Reed.

An Amazon Premium Beauty storefront to tout Kiehl’s heritage and boost scale

It took 18 months to curate just the right tone and mix for Kiehl’s storefront, which launched on Amazon in May. Kiehl’s is informed about where its products are sold on the site, and maintaining its premium heritage was essential.

Calling it “a new chapter in Kiehl’s journey,” Reed said the storefront was inspired by the brand’s heritage while bringing its skin care solutions to a greater scale. The storefront features more than 100 products, including the Ultra Facial franchise, as well as new items such as the Truly Targeted Acne-Clearing Pimple Patch and Better Screen UV Serum SPF 50+.

The range is presented by skin type and needs, such as exfoliation. “There is something that meets the demand for each skin type and consumer,” Reed said.

For Amazon, adding Kiehl’s is another endorsement of its legitimacy at selling pricey beauty — a move that has been a slow but steady build.

It also grants the online retailer “a heritage brand with a devoted following," said Ali Kole, Head of Amazon Premium Beauty, in a statement.

Amazon’s Premium Beauty storefront also sells other high-end brands, including Caudalie, Olaplex, The Outset from Scarlett Johansson, and Kerastase.

Kiehl’s move to Amazon is paying off, according to information from Vanessa Kuykendall, Chief Engagement Officer of Market Defense, a marketplace agency for beauty brands.

“Since their launch on the platform [in May 2024], sales have surged by over 50%, underscoring a strong market response. Notably, searches for Kiehl's sunscreen have increased by an impressive 180%, indicating that the brand is poised for a successful summer season,” she said. She added that the brand already generated more than 400,000 branded searches each month on the platform.

[Read: 3 Businesses Get Creative to Counter Mounting Customer Acquisition Obstacles—And Win]

Wooing eco-conscious beauty consumers

Amazon also awarded several of Kiehl’s products with its Amazon Climate Pledge Friendly badge, which Amazon uses to help consumers make more informed, eco-conscious purchasing decisions, based on the brand’s Cradle to Cradle certification.

The certification is crucial, with almost 40% of Americans saying they care a great deal about climate change. “This is very consistent with our brand values since Kiehl’s has been a proponent of sustainability for a long time,” Reed said.

Exposure on Amazon is one facet of Kiehl’s playbook, just as brand activations and pop-ups “are a key component to our brand strategy,” said Reed, adding that it is important to meet and engage customers where they are and engage them across multiple touchpoints. “This is both a recruitment and retention strategy,” he said.

[Read: 3 Startups Reveal Their Roadmap for Developing and Launching a Successful Sustainable Product]

That engagement strategy included unconventional anti-buying messaging this year, when Kiehl’s took to the streets of New York City with billboards addressing the uptick in tweens purchasing skin care products not suited for their skin.

Kiehl’s spread the message on social media and posters throughout New York City that kids should be kids. One image showed a young girl covered in ice cream with the wording, “The only anti-aging cream kids should buy.”

Cyril Chapuy, President at L’Oréal Luxe, which includes Kiehl’s, called the campaign “a daring and inspirational way” to address the trend on a LinkedIn post.

Industry expert Allan Mottus agrees that L’Oréal understands the importance of modernizing. “Staying in tune with your audience with things like Amazon, addressing young skin care and the recent support of the LGBTQIA2+ community are just some of the moves they are using to stand out in an ever-growing competitive beauty industry,” he concluded.

CO— aims to bring you inspiration from leading respected experts. However, before making any business decision, you should consult a professional who can advise you based on your individual situation.

CO—is committed to helping you start, run and grow your small business. Learn more about the benefits of small business membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, here.