Exclusivity for a hair care brand is earned through a contract that assigns you a territory in return for purchase targets and for developing the brand in salons. The manufacturer grants it according to the area's potential and your sales capacity, and in the European Union the law sets out what that contract can and cannot restrict.
What Does the Manufacturer Ask in Return for Exclusivity?
A manufacturer that reserves an area for a single distributor gives up developing it through other routes. In return it needs assurance that the brand will grow in that territory, and that assurance comes from development targets: a commitment to purchasing and to building presence in salons, based on commitment and annual volume.
At Yanguas Professional, exclusivity is negotiated case by case, depending on the size of the territory, the market potential and the distributor's commercial commitment. The scope changes with the market:
| Market | Usual scope | Basis of the agreement |
|---|---|---|
| Spain | A province, a region or the whole country | Purchase and development targets |
| International | A country or an entire market | Contract with territory and targets |
What the Contract Settles Before Signing
An exclusivity contract rests on a handful of decisions, but each one shapes years of work. Five points are settled during the negotiation:
| Point | What is decided |
|---|---|
| Territory | The reserved area and its boundaries |
| Targets | Expected purchasing and development |
| Product families | The lines with most potential in your area |
| Initial order | The volume the brand launches with |
| Commercial terms | Pricing and launch support |
The choice of product families is the one most often underestimated. There is no need to start with the full catalogue: colour, bleaching, technical products and styling can be added progressively, starting with the lines that best fit the salons in your area.
What Can an Exclusivity Contract Restrict in the EU?
Within the European Union, these contracts are governed by Regulation (EU) 2022/720 on vertical agreements, which exempts them from the ban on restrictive agreements when neither the supplier nor the distributor holds more than 30% of its relevant market. It remains in force until 31 May 2034, and it defines the exclusive system as follows:
A distribution system where the supplier allocates a territory or group of customers exclusively to itself or to a maximum of five buyers and restricts all its other buyers from actively selling into the exclusive territory or to the exclusive customer group.
The key lies in the difference between active sales and passive sales. An active sale means seeking out customers in an area (visits, emails, targeted advertising); a passive sale means serving someone who contacts you on their own initiative. The regulation lets your area be protected from the first, not from the second:
| Clause | Treatment under the regulation |
|---|---|
| Other buyers' active sales into your area | Can be restricted |
| Your passive sales outside your area | Cannot be restricted |
| Fixed or minimum resale price | Prohibited; maximum or recommended allowed |
| Non-compete obligation | Exempt for up to five years |
Outside the European Union the framework depends on each country's law, but the points under negotiation are the same: territory, targets, range and terms.
Can the Brand Ban Sales on Marketplaces?
Yes, and it is part of what protects your exclusivity. A professional brand loses value when it turns up discounted on a general marketplace, and the salons that sell it lose margin with it. That is why channel protection is part of the agreement: Yanguas Professional is not on Amazon, eBay or AliExpress, and its distributors cannot sell through them either.
The Commission Guidelines on vertical restraints state that restrictions on the use of online marketplaces can generally benefit from the exemption, whatever the distribution system, provided they do not indirectly prevent the buyer from making effective use of the internet.
For an exclusive distributor, that policy is a safeguard: nobody can offer online, at a knock-down price, the same brand you are building up salon by salon.
💡 Tip before signing: ask for the contract to set out in writing the exact boundaries of the territory and how the targets are reviewed. That is what protects your investment if the market in your area changes.
Before discussing exclusivity, it helps to be clear on what a manufacturer looks for before granting you its brand, which we cover in how to distribute a professional hair care brand. If you want to explore exclusivity for your area or country, tell us about your company, your territory and your salon portfolio on the Yanguas Professional distributors page.
