Brows(e)

Ulta Beauty wants to steal TikTok’s and Insta's thunder with "the digital store of the future"

Thursday, October 21, 2021 by Snacks

Return of the "try me" moisturizers... Ulta is Sephora's less swanky rival, with 1.3K US stores compared to Sephora’s 2.7K global stores. Ulta shares have dropped 13% since its investor day on Tuesday. Its three-year growth outlook missed expectations, though it expects to outpace the rest of the beauty industry.

  • Beauty sales plunged last year, as face masks replaced lip gloss and Zoom face replaced foundation. Meanwhile, consumers became even more digitally savvy. Now...
  • Beauty is glowing up, as we refresh our makeup bags instead of refreshing Netflix. Last quarter, Ulta's sales surged 56% from 2020, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

TikTok blush... As the shift to digital continues, Ulta is following Sephora’s lead and rolling out same-day delivery. But IRL browsing is key, too: Ulta customers who shop both online and in stores typically spend 3X more than online-only shoppers. So Ulta plans to open 50 new stores a year, and have 100 mini shops inside Target this year. But the juiciest update from Ulta:

  • “Digital store of the future”: Ulta just invested in AI company Adeptmind, which aims to power a new personalized search engine for a futuristic shopping experience.
  • Think: Tailored recs and content-driven product discovery on Ulta’s platforms. The goal: to "seamlessly merge content with commerce.” About that...
  • Ulta’s launching a media platform that partners can use to advertise on Ulta’s site and app. A new editorial team will create “culturally relevant” content, including beauty tips.
THE TAKEAWAY

Being a social hub > using a social hub... Product discovery and spending have shifted to TikTok and Insta. But instead of only advertising on social platforms, Ulta wants to create its own social commerce hub. That way Ulta — not Insta — will gain valuable browsing data that it can use to sell targeted ads to brand partners. By making its digital sales channels more like content-focused social apps, Ulta could unlock a big new revenue stream.

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