Last week, two announcements quietly rewrote the rules of creator commerce. Sephora launched “My Sephora Storefront,” allowing creators to build their own digital shops within Sephora’s ecosystem. Vogue followed with “Vette,” launching in early 2026 under Lisa Aiken’s leadership.
These moves signal the beginning of the most significant platform migration in creator commerce history. While most brands continue paying 8-15% commissions to third-party platforms like LTK and ShopMy, forward-thinking brands are building their own creator infrastructure.
The land grab has begun. And every brand that understands platform economics knows they’re racing against time to claim their territory.
Why This Move Changes Everything
For years, creator commerce operated like digital real estate with limited prime locations. LTK owned the main shopping district. ShopMy carved out a trendy neighborhood. Brands competed for attention within these established ecosystems, paying rent through platform fees and surrendering customer relationships.
Now the landscape is shifting completely.
Sephora built their own digital ecosystem. When creators link through “My Sephora Storefront,” that traffic flows directly into Sephora’s world rather than through LTK’s crowded marketplace where hundreds of brands compete for attention. The recommended lip balm naturally leads to discovering their viral Glazing Milk or exploring their entire skincare routine.
This represents platform capture at its most strategic. Instead of fighting for shelf space in someone else’s store, Sephora became the entire shopping destination.
The timing element matters because there are only so many top creators, and they can only authentically partner with a limited number of platforms. The brands that move first will secure the best creator relationships before their competitors realize the game has changed.
The Creator Economy’s Billion-Dollar Shift: How Retailers Are Becoming Platforms
What Sephora and Vogue are doing represents a fundamental transformation in how creator commerce operates. We’re witnessing the shift from a platform-mediated economy to a platform-owned economy.
The Old Model: Platform Dependency
- Brands as tenants paying rent to platform landlords
- Creator relationships mediated by third-party infrastructure
- Customer data owned by platforms, not brands
- Revenue sharing with multiple intermediaries
- Brand messaging competing in crowded marketplaces
The New Model: Platform Ownership
- Brands as platform operators controlling their own ecosystem
- Direct creator relationships without intermediaries
- Complete customer data ownership and control
- Revenue flowing directly to brand (minus creator commissions)
- Brand messaging in exclusive, focused environments
For context: if Sephora captures just 10% of the creator commerce market that currently flows through third-party platforms, we’re talking about hundreds of millions in annual revenue moving from shared ecosystems to owned infrastructure.
The billion-dollar shift extends beyond money. It’s about control, data, and customer relationships that compound in value over time.
The Inevitable Platform Migration
This transformation is becoming essential for brands that want to remain competitive. Three forces are making platform ownership inevitable:
Economic Pressure Every dollar spent on platform fees is a dollar that could stay in-house. For brands doing significant creator commerce volume, the math is compelling: build once, save continuously. Plus, owned platforms enable upselling and cross-selling that third-party platforms can’t match.
Creator Relationship Evolution The creator economy is maturing beyond transactional partnerships. Top creators want deeper, more strategic relationships with brands that align with their values and audience. Owned platforms enable the kind of exclusive access, early product launches, and co-creation opportunities that third-party platforms can’t provide.
Technology Democratization Platform building used to require massive technical investments. Now, companies like Motom provide white-label solutions that make creator platform ownership accessible to brands of any size. The barrier to entry has collapsed.
Customer Experience Expectations Modern consumers expect seamless, integrated shopping experiences. When a creator’s content leads to a fragmented, multi-platform shopping journey, it feels broken. Owned platforms enable the kind of cohesive brand experience that drives conversion and loyalty.
What Smaller Brands Can Learn From Sephora’s Platform Strategy
While not every brand can invest millions in building their own LTK, Sephora’s move reveals strategic principles that any brand can apply:
Lesson 1: Own Your Creator Relationships You can build direct creator partnerships without a platform. Start by identifying your top 10 performing creators and offer them exclusive deals that bypass third-party platforms. Give them your direct affiliate links, early product access, or higher commission rates for direct partnerships.
Lesson 2: Control the Customer Journey Even without a platform, you can create cohesive creator-to-purchase experiences. Develop creator-specific landing pages, discount codes, or product bundles that keep customers in your ecosystem after they click from creator content.
Lesson 3: Capture Customer Data Instead of losing customer information to platforms, use creator partnerships to build your own email list. Offer creator followers exclusive access to your newsletter, early sale notifications, or member-only content in exchange for their contact information.
Lesson 4: Start Small, Scale Smart Begin with 5-10 creators who genuinely use and love your products. Focus on authentic partnerships rather than broad reach. As these relationships prove profitable, gradually expand your direct creator network.
The Affordable Path: White-Label Solutions and Partnerships
Sephora partnered with Motom to build their platform. They built their solution through partnership rather than from scratch. This reveals opportunities for smaller brands:
White-Label Platform Options Companies like Motom, Creator.co, and AspireIQ offer platform solutions starting at $500-2,000 monthly. For brands doing $50K+ in annual creator commerce, the ROI often justifies the investment within 6-12 months.
Partnership Strategies Consider partnering with complementary brands to share platform costs. A skincare brand, wellness company, and lifestyle brand could co-create a creator platform serving the same audience with different products.
Gradual Migration Approach Start by testing direct creator relationships alongside your existing platform partnerships. Track performance differences between owned relationships and third-party platforms. Scale what works before eliminating what’s currently working.
How to Calculate If Platform Ownership Makes Sense for Your Brand
Use this framework to determine when platform investment becomes worthwhile:
Annual Creator Commerce Audit:
- Total spent on creator commissions: $______
- Total spent on platform fees: $______
- Number of customers acquired through creators: ______
- Average customer lifetime value: $______
- Customer data captured vs. lost to platforms: ______%
Break-Even Analysis: If your annual platform fees exceed $10,000 and you work with 20+ creators regularly, owned platform solutions likely provide positive ROI within 12-18 months.
Creator Relationship Assessment:
- How many creators would work with you exclusively?
- What exclusive value could you offer that platforms can’t?
- How much customer data are you currently surrendering?
The Competitive Timeline: When Everyone Builds Their Own LTK
Based on current market dynamics and technology adoption curves, here’s how the platform migration will unfold:
Phase 1 (2024-2025): First Movers Major retailers like Sephora and established media companies like Vogue launch comprehensive creator platforms. Early results prove the model’s effectiveness and ROI.
Phase 2 (2025-2026): Fast Followers Mid-tier brands and specialty retailers rapidly launch their own platforms using white-label solutions. Competition for exclusive creator partnerships intensifies.
Phase 3 (2026-2027): Market Maturation Most brands with significant creator commerce volume operate their own platforms. Third-party platforms either evolve into infrastructure providers or focus on long-tail creators.
Phase 4 (2027+): New Equilibrium The creator economy operates primarily through brand-owned platforms, with third-party platforms serving specialized niches or providing B2B infrastructure services.
The timeline is aggressive because platform effects create winner-take-all dynamics. The brands that capture creator mindshare early will be exponentially harder to dislodge later.
What You Can Implement This Week
Immediate Actions:
- Audit your creator spending – Calculate what you’re paying in platform fees annually
- Identify direct partnership candidates – Which creators would work with you exclusively for better terms?
- Create creator-specific assets – Build landing pages or discount codes that capture customer data
- Test direct relationships – Offer 2-3 top creators higher commissions to bypass platforms for 30 days
Medium-Term Planning:
- Research platform solutions – Get quotes from white-label providers
- Develop exclusive creator value propositions – What can you offer that platforms can’t?
- Plan customer data strategy – How will you capture and use creator-driven customer information?
- Set migration timeline – When will you test owned platform solutions?
The creator platform land grab is real, and the billion-dollar shift toward platform ownership is accelerating. The biggest opportunity lies in applying platform thinking to create stronger, more profitable creator relationships at whatever scale makes sense for your business.
The giants are investing millions to own the infrastructure. Smart smaller brands are investing thousands to own the relationships. Both strategies recognize the same truth: the future of creator commerce belongs to brands that control their own destiny.
Writing this to you from Tuscany, hope everyone has a great day.
xx
Camille
As always, I love helping small businesses win, whether that’s through my self-paced Social Media Masterclass here or through a 1:1, Direct discovery or working with my agency.