ESSENCE Launches ‘WeLoveUs.shop Powered by ESSENCE,’ a Community Commerce Platform Built to Answer One of the Toughest Labor and Economic Markets In Decades

Black women-led brands gain access to faster cash flow, stronger retail infrastructure, and a platform built for real scale during key shopping moments

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ESSENCE Communications Inc. proudly launched WeLoveUs.shop powered by ESSENCE, a community commerce platform built to support Black women-led and culturally rooted brands with stronger cash flow, consistent visibility, and direct access to consumers during the holiday season and beyond. With the debut of a new, curated digital retail destination, featuring a mix of emerging and beloved Black-owned brands across beauty, wellness, home, lifestyle, and gifting – all vetted through ESSENCE’s trusted editorial lens – consumers can meet the moment with purchases that directly invest in a founder’s dream.

The platform launches at a time when Black women and Black communities are navigating one of the toughest labor markets in decades. Job losses across multiple sectors have been steep, and entrepreneurship has become a primary path toward financial stability. Black women continue to create businesses at some of the highest rates in the country, yet they face limited access to capital, delayed payment cycles, and fewer scalable retail channels. WeLoveUs.shop powered by ESSENCE was created to address these barriers directly by offering a reliable structure that allows emerging brands to grow without absorbing disproportionate operational strain.

The platform provides bi-weekly payouts, real-time inventory sync through Shopify Collective, centralized customer service, and a clear 30-35% commission model. This foundation replaces the long delays associated with traditional retail and gives founders the operational room they need to maintain momentum.

The Cyber Week launch collection reflects the industries where Black women are driving cultural and consumer growth: beauty, skincare, wellness, fashion, home, lifestyle, and grooming anchor the assortment, featuring a strong mix of standout brands that represent the breadth of innovation happening across these categories, such as SAREP + ROSE, LAMIK Beauty, Abeille Creations, KAZMALEJE, F&W Style, SOKO, Alodia Haircare, Pecandy, RVL Wellness Co, Maneuver Men's Grooming and more.

The demand is clear: more than 100 Black-owned brands with over 1,000 products have already signed on to join the platform, which will roll out in future curated shopping collections tied to key retail periods, including Black History Month, Mother’s Day, ESSENCE Festival of Culture®, and Father’s Day.

Additional brands will join throughout the year, expanding core industries such as accessories, leather goods, home fragrance, kid care, specialty foods, and emerging lifestyle categories. Each drop is curated to match the moments where consumers are most intentional about how and where they spend.

“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 Michele Ghee, Chief Content Officer, ESSENCE Communications Inc. “The WeLoveUs.shop platform was designed to offer stability and a real pathway to scale in a moment where that support is needed most.”

WeLoveUs.shop is one pillar of a larger Sundial Media & Technology Group ecosystem designed to lift small businesses, solving gaps in discovery, storytelling, credibility, scale, and demand. Every participating brand receives built-in visibility across ESSENCE, Refinery29, Beautycon™, Unbothered, NaturallyCurly, and SOKO MRKT™; founders also gain year-round access to New Voices Foundation programming, including coaching, cohort learning, and a national network of entrepreneurs.

“WeLoveUs.shop is more than a marketplace; it is an economic engine designed to restore opportunity, dignity, and ownership to communities that have been systematically excluded from growth,” said Richelieu Dennis, Executive Chairman of Sundial Group of Companies. “Through our Community Commerce model, we’re using the full strength of our platforms to redirect capital, visibility, and long-term economic value back into the hands of our entrepreneurs, our creators, and our consumers. This is about building an ecosystem where our communities don’t just participate in the economy—they shape it, they benefit from it, and they own their future within it.”

WeLoveUs.shop powered by ESSENCE is available at weloveus.shop.

About Sundial Media & Technology Group

Sundial Media & Technology Group (SMTG) is a human connections company — the signal powered by culture, scaled by technology, and built for community. SMTG connects, elevates, and empowers the most influential consumer segment in the market: HER, the Chief Influence Officer. With over 100 years of community knowledge and insights, SMTG is redefining the media model into a next-generation platform. Powered by proprietary intelligence and AI technology, it activates an ecosystem that scales HER influence and economic power. Its portfolio includes some of the most iconic, purpose-driven brands and experiences shaping culture today—ESSENCE (Girls United, ESSENCE Studios, ESSENCE Festival of Culture®), Refinery29, AFROPUNK, Beautycon™ (including NaturallyCurly), the Global Black Economic Forum, the Academy for Advancing Excellence, and the New Voices Fund. Through storytelling, products, and platforms, SMTG delivers the tools and technology to shape the future of media, commerce, and community—on HER terms.