Naturium lands in Ulta Beauty

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Dive Brief:

DTC beauty brand Naturium on Wednesday launched at Ulta Beauty with its biggest wholesale offering of lip, skin and body care products, per information sent to Retail Dive.
Naturium will have 46 SKUs in all Ulta stores across the U.S. Among the products being offered are Phyto Glow lip balms and body washes, as well as Ulta-exclusive products including Barrier Bounce, Vitamin Bright and Glow Getter body oil, per the release.
The partnership with Ulta was first mentioned on an earnings call in May by Naturium’s parent company, E.l.f. Beauty.

Dive Insight:

Naturium’s major expansion into wholesale is indicative of an industry trend of DTC brands venturing into brick and mortar as a way to drive consumer awareness and grow their customer base. More brands are taking advantage of a hybrid approach to selling that meets consumers where they shop.

A recent report by NuOrder suggests that wholesale remains the most profitable investment channel for brands.

When E.l.f. acquired Naturium for $355 million last year, the beauty brand was only being sold through Target, Amazon and its own DTC website. E.l.f. envisioned a much broader wholesale distribution business model for Naturium.

At the time of the acquisition, E.l.f. CEO Tarang Amin said that there were distribution opportunities for Naturium due to its momentum. “Obviously, you can see the track record we’ve had on E.l.f. and our ability to get E.l.f. broadly distributed. ... We feel there are opportunities not only in the U.S., but also internationally,” Amin said regarding the brand.

Naturium expanded into the Canadian market in February through an exclusive wholesale partnership with Shoppers Drug Mart.

E.l.f. Beauty has seen its revenues grow through an ability to utilize wholesale partnerships. Net sales for fiscal 2024 exceeded $1 billion, an increase of 77%. Naturium contributed approximately 17 points to E.l.f. net sales growth in Q4.