Estee Lauder Moves MAC, Tom Ford and More to Shopify as Part of Digital Overhaul

Quick Facts

Estee Lauder Companies has migrated Tom Ford, Lab Series, and MAC to Shopify, with most remaining e-commerce sites targeted for migration by end of fiscal year.
60% of ELC consumers already use Shop Pay, Shopify’s saved-checkout system, across the web.
ELC posted 5% sales growth in fiscal year 2026 to $15 billion, with online sales on track to exceed 31% of reported revenue.

Estee Lauder Companies is shifting the bulk of its e-commerce operations to Shopify, a move that touches brands sold in roughly 150 countries and marks one of the most significant platform migrations in prestige beauty.

The partnership began with Tom Ford and Lab Series, followed by MAC’s e-commerce site going live on Shopify in August. ELC has also deployed Shopify at checkout in five MAC physical stores and plans to complete most brand migrations before the close of its current fiscal year.

The Strategy Behind the Switch

The Shopify buildout is a core piece of ELC’s “Beauty Reimagined” plan, announced in 2025 to restore growth after consecutive quarters of slumping sales. The plan prioritizes faster digital execution and broader channel reach.

Alongside the Shopify rollout, ELC launched MAC at U.S. Sephora stores in March and announced a reduction of its department store footprint in May. The company is concentrating resources on higher-growth channels, online and specialty retail chief among them.

Management said online sales are on track to surpass 31% of reported revenue in fiscal 2026, up from that same threshold reached in fiscal 2025.

What Shopify Provides

Brian Franz, ELC’s chief technology, data and analytics officer, said the platform gives the company real-time data and AI capabilities it could not efficiently build in-house. “It’s very difficult to keep up with innovation, especially at a global scale across multiple brands,” Franz said. “We’re building our own consumer experiences, but we don’t want to compete with the Shopifys and the Salesforces of the world on having a better checkout.”

Franz added that ELC sees itself as a preferred client with influence over Shopify’s product roadmap. “We want to drive some of their roadmap,” he said.

CEO Stephane de La Faverie framed the partnership as part of a broader technology ecosystem that includes Microsoft, Google, and Accenture. In November, ELC signed a global enterprise services agreement with Accenture to overhaul its operating model. In December, it launched an AI Scent Advisor under Jo Malone London, built on Google Gemini and Vertex AI.

Scale of the Migration

Digital Commerce 360 projects ELC’s e-commerce sales will reach $2.23 billion in 2025. The company’s brand portfolio includes Estee Lauder, Clinique, La Mer, Bobbi Brown, Jo Malone London, Le Labo, The Ordinary, and NIOD, among others.

ELC reported 5% full-year sales growth in fiscal 2026 to $15 billion. First-quarter fiscal 2026 net sales rose 4% to $3.48 billion, with fragrance leading the way at 14% year-over-year growth.

Before ELC’s migration, more than 115 of the top 2,000 online retailers in North America already ran on Shopify, according to Digital Commerce 360. ELC’s move adds significant enterprise weight to that number.

What It Means for Operators

ELC’s decision to abandon proprietary commerce infrastructure in favor of a third-party platform signals a shift in how large, multi-brand operators think about build versus buy. The company is betting that consumer familiarity with Shop Pay, already used by 60% of its shoppers, reduces checkout friction enough to offset the loss of a custom-built system.

For brands still running on legacy or homegrown platforms, ELC’s migration at this scale makes a clear case that enterprise commerce and Shopify are no longer mutually exclusive.