Quince Enters the Beauty Marketplace

Quince, the direct-to-consumer retailer known for its accessibly-priced products across fashion, home and jewelry, has announced its foray into skincare on Thursday morning with The Beauty Atelier by Quince, a luxury beauty marketplace that will launch in early June, the company confirmed to The Business of Beauty.

The Beauty Atelier by Quince opens with an assortment of skincare best-sellers from Augustinus Bader, 111Skin and Irene Forte, with price points between $115 and $380. Shoppers can earn 30 percent of their purchases back as Quince store credit.

The Atelier will live as a shop on Quince’s website, and opens with a selection of 11 products comprising a selection of each brand’s heroes, like Bader’s Rich Cream ($305) or 111Skin’s Repair Serum ($180), focussed on facial skincare. Daphne de Chatellus, Quince’s head of emerging categories, said more brands and products will launch in the coming months. Purchases on The Beauty Atelier are fulfilled by the brands themselves, not Quince.

The company’s objective “is really to be the consumer destination for thoughtfully curated, high quality essentials offered up at the best value,” De Chatellus told The Business of Beauty. “Beauty is one of those essentials.”

The push into skincare is part of Quince’s bigger beauty and wellness strategy. In February, the retailer released supplements; in March, it launched fine fragrances. Since it was introduced in 2020, Quince has become known not only for its wide assortment of accessible luxuries but also its dupes of pricier products. The company’s choice to move into boutique beauty reads as a departure.

“We did explore what it would look like if we launched our own products, and that’s not to say we never will,” said Antonieta Moreland, Quince’s head of brand. “But we wanted to be really thoughtful. It helps the consumer to show them that we’re partnering with people who really understand the space, which is unique compared to a cashmere sweater or linen bedding.”

Marketplace Matters

Quince is the latest retailer of its kind to turn to the marketplace model, a third-party environment where brands can reach shoppers without the fuss of wholesale.

From department stores and big box chains to specialty beauty, nearly all categories of retailers have added online marketplaces to compete with Amazon. Beauty retailers have been the latest to acknowledge the threat after the e-commerce behemoth became the US’ biggest beauty retailer last year, overtaking incumbent Walmart.

The free-for-all of the marketplace model means one can reliably find third-party seller listings of classic luxuries like La Mer or new ones from Augustinus Bader on Target or Walmart. While mass retailers were the first to get in on the marketplace model, higher-end stores are increasingly following suit: Nordstrom added a marketplace in 2024, following Macy’s in 2022. After losing market share last year, Ulta Beauty will be launching its own marketplace in the fall.

Retailers have recognized the model’s scaling advantages, as it gives them the ability to add an unlimited number of brands without having to buy inventory or handle storage and fulfilment. Fashion e-tailers have especially struggled with managing beauty inventory — last year, Net-a-Porter scrapped its beauty wholesaling business in favor of editorial affiliate links fulfilled by the brands themselves.

“There’s only so much physical real estate space in our stores,” said Ulta Beauty’s chief retail officer Aimee Bayer-Thomas in an interview with Business of Beauty earlier this year, adding that the aim was an “amplified extension” of the in-store selection.

Of course, a marketplace model also brings about issues of brand equity: Retailers trusted for their curation risk opening themselves up to unknown third-party resellers and counterfeits. Ulta Beauty’s marketplace will not be an Amazon-style situation, but rather a closed platform requiring approval from the retailer to sell on it.

“We are going to take great care with our brands and thought around who is invited to participate in the marketplace. It’s not just an open marketplace,” said Bayer-Thomas.

The same is true of Quince’s curated marketplace, as the DTC e-tailer has sought out marketplace partners for their luxury positioning and significantly higher price points — Augustinus Bader has some products that go for just a fraction of the cost of a clothing piece from the label.

“As we look ahead to the Atelier throughout the year, we plan to expand thoughtfully into premium or prestige price points,” de Chatellus said, as the retailer expands its existing brand selection and launches new categories, including hair and body. “This is really just the beginning.”

Sign up to The Business of Beauty newsletter, your complimentary, must-read source for the day’s most important beauty and wellness news and analysis.