Key points
- Bath & Body Works has opened an official storefront on Amazon as part of its ongoing push to sell products beyond its own stores.
- CEO Daniel Heaf told CNBC that the launch is focused on reaching customers where they already shop.
- For brands such as Bath & Body Works, Gap, and Everlane, Amazon is becoming more of a logistics partner than a traditional retailer.
Amazon Prime members can now easily buy Bath & Body Works Champagne Toast Body Wash with no minimum shipping requirement.
The popular brand is offering some of its top fragrances, body washes, hand soaps, and candles to US Amazon shoppers. These products are also available with Prime shipping, according to Euromonitor. Amazon is the top online destination for US beauty shoppers, holding 47% of the online beauty and personal care market in 2024. Sephora comes in second with a 9% share. Euromonitor also estimates that 39% of all beauty and personal care sales happen online.
Launching our first authorized brand storefront on Amazon puts us directly in consumers’ paths. Bath & Body Works CEO Daniel Harish told CNBC it’s about meeting them where they already are. The Amazon launch is the latest move by Bath & Body Works, based in Columbus, Ohio, to reach more customers. Last year, the company began selling its products in college campus stores, which now number over 1,000. These were the first sales points outside its approximately owned and franchised stores and its website.
Heaf joined Bath & Body Works in May after his position as Nike’s Chief Transformation and Strategy Officer was eliminated by CEO Elliot Hill.
Harish recently shared his plan to return Bath & Body Works to profitable long-term growth. He describes it as a consumer-first formula built on 4 pillars:
- Creating innovative products
- Reigniting the brand
- Succeeding in the marketplace
- Working quickly and efficiently
The Amazon Partnership, he said, is the first of many milestones to be delivered this fiscal year under that strategy.
Before launching its official storefront, Bath & Body Works products were available on Amazon through third-party sellers.
Now, Harish says the company is working to take back control of its brand story and sales on Amazon.
Amazon: Friend or Foe?
While Amazon has many first-party relationships with brands from Nike to Calvin Klein that use wholesale partnerships as part of their business models, there are few examples of retailers selling on the site that design, manufacture, and sell their products entirely in-house.
For vertically integrated brands like Bath & Bodyworks, Amazon is taking on a more logistics-partner role rather than acting as a traditional retailer.
Gap, J. Crew, and Eve. srlane are also vertically integrated and offer limited selections of their branded products on Amazon.
GAP began sharing what it calls core basics for the whole family in 2022 through a wholesale partnership in which Amazon owns and sells the products, which are Prime-eligible. GAP has said its goal is to improve customer retention and reach new and lapsed customers, as well as to provide existing shoppers with the convenience of core essentials.
Under the new agreement, Bath & Body Works will retain ownership of its inventory and set its pricing while using Amazon’s fulfillment network to qualify for Prime shipping.
Everlane declined to comment on its partnership with Amazon. J.Crew did not respond to a request for comment.
Jewelry company Kendra Scott has authorized a storefront on Amazon after initially opposing the partnership, even though it had wholesale relationships with other retailers, including Macy’s and Nordstrom. But over time, the brand began to view Amazon as another opportunity to reach shoppers rather than a competitive threat, according to a person familiar with the company’s decision-making, who spoke on the condition of anonymity about private matters.
Bath & Body Works has also made it easier to order from its own website. Last month, the company lowered its free shipping minimum from $100 to $50.
Still, he admits we know that we will never compete with Amazon in terms of their Prime Network. No one will offer next-day shipping. That’s just not what we are in the business of. And so, by going on Amazon, we are also making our own site more competitive but recognizing that our job is not to build a fulfillment network that can operate at the speed of Amazon.
Source: Retail Bath & Body Works starts selling on Amazon as more brands embrace its logistics network
