Essence Launches Black Women-Led Marketplace

Amid a challenging period for small businesses, Essence is supporting Black women entrepreneurs with the launch of Weloveus.shop, an online marketplace showcasing Black women-led brands.

Launched on Dec. 3, WeLoveUs.shop, powered by Essence, is a community commerce platform designed to support Black women-led and culturally rooted brands. The marketplace aims to support Black-owned small businesses with visibility and direct access to consumers during the holiday season and beyond.

Showcasing a curated selection of 100 brands and 1,000 products across beauty, wellness, home, lifestyle, and gifting, all vetted by Essence’s editorial team, shoppers can confidently support Black founders while buying Black the block.

“Black women are building businesses in the midst of economic uncertainty, and they often do it without access to the retail infrastructure their peers rely on,” said Chief Content Officer at ESSENCE Communications Inc., Michele Ghee, in a press release. “The WeLoveUs.shop platform was designed to offer stability and a real pathway to scale in a moment where that support is needed most.”

The marketplace launches amid challenges for small businesses, including the impact of Trump’s tariff policies, widespread job losses across sectors, and the loss of visibility for Black founders after Target and other retailers rolled back their diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

“There was a lot of pushback, especially on social media, and you couldn’t really talk about being in [Target],” LaToya Stirrup, founder of Kazmaleje, told Digiday. “That limits you from being able to advertise, because we were getting the response of, ‘We’re not shopping there.’”

Stirrup debuted on Target’s shelves in 2022 alongside 20 other Black-owned beauty brands as part of the retailer’s plan to spend over $2 billion with Black-led businesses by 2025. However, Target’s rollback of its DEI initiatives earlier this year sparked backlash and a boycott, leading many loyal shoppers to avoid the store.

Stirrup experienced “a complete sales slowdown” before Target removed her haircare products from shelves, selling them online only. This prompted her and other founders, like Brittny Horne of RVL Wellness Co., to join Weloveus.shop. For Horne, who was also affected by Trump’s tariffs, the marketplace launch has provided a “really big boost” in sales.

The platform offers bi-weekly payouts, real-time inventory syncing via Shopify Collective, centralized customer service, and a transparent 30%-35% commission structure. While higher than other marketplaces—Amazon, for example, takes 8%-15% per sale, depending on the product category, but also charges for services like advertising and fulfillment—WeLoveUs.shop’s commission provides access to Essence’s complete media ecosystem, including editorial coverage, social promotion, newsletters, and PR support. Brands have also expressed appreciation for the bi-weekly payouts, compared to the typical 90–120-day payment cycles in wholesale and consignment arrangements.

“For [Essence] to be able to put their media power behind more Black-owned brands at a time of great need, when small incomes are struggling, can really support them,” said Sky Canaves, a principal retail analyst at eMarketer.

RELATED CONTENT: Aunt Allegedly Drowns 6-Year-Old Niece For ‘Looking More Beautiful’ Than Her At Wedding