Amazon wants to be a beauty powerhouse. Is a big beauty sale the answer?

About this episode

The episode discusses Amazon's strategy to become a premium beauty retailer and its recent Summer Beauty Event.

On Sunday, Amazon wrapped up its fourth-annual Summer Beauty Event. Over two weeks, Amazon tempted shoppers with discounts of up to 50% on everything from makeup to vitamins. Even prior to the sale, the retailer did not seem to have trouble courting the beauty consumer. According to data from e-commerce agency Front Row, Amazon cleared $8 billion in U.S. beauty revenue in the first quarter of 2026. But Amazon wants more than just a place to snag beauty at a discount; it wants to be known as a premium beauty destination. On this week’s episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, hosts Lexy Lebsack and Sara Spruch-Feiner are joined by senior beauty reporter Emily Jensen to discuss the strategy around the e-commerce giant's beauty sales and assortment, and how it's attempting to position itself as a prestige beauty retailer on par with the likes of Sephora and Ulta Beauty. For Amazon, that means not only upping its brand assortment, which has grown to include everything from K-beauty favorites like Medicube to Puig-owned Charlotte Tilbury in recent months, but also encouraging consumers to use its AI-powered shopping assistants in lieu of in-person sales associates. According to Amazon…

People in this episode

Hosts: Lexy Lebsack, Sara Spruch-Feiner

Guest: Emily Jensen

Topics covered

• Amazon beauty sales
• e-commerce strategy
• premium beauty retail
• AI shopping assistants
• beauty consumer trends

Keywords

• Amazon
• beauty sales
• e-commerce
• AI shopping
• discounts
• premium beauty
• Sephora
• Ulta Beauty
• beauty revenue

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Amazon, Front Row, Sephora, Ulta Beauty

Products: Medicube, Charlotte Tilbury

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