Dive Brief:
- Fragrance brand Snif on Sunday expanded its product range and presence into all of Ulta Beauty’s more than 1,350 stores nationwide, per details emailed to Retail Dive.
- Known for its try-before-you-buy business model, Sniff has gone from being in 539 Ulta stores and its website as part of the retailer’s Sparked program, to all locations. Snif’s expanded product range includes five fragrances available in store and 14 fragrance and candle SKUs in total.
- Snif also announced that on May 9 it will launch Coco Shimmy — the brand's newest fragrance — exclusively with Ulta Beauty, per the company.
Dive Insight:
The expansion builds on a partnership between Ulta Beauty and Snif that launched last summer. The Snif collection initially available at the retailer consisted of three one-ounce scents of Sweet Ash, Golden Ticket and Tart Deco. It marked the first entry into brick and mortar for Snif, which was founded in 2020.
Since its creation four years ago by Bryan Edwards and Phil Riportella, Snif has raised a total of $11.57 million, most recently securing $7.36 million in March of this year, according to CB Insights.
Ulta has been steadily building out its assortment of DTC brands since launching its Sparked Beauty platform in 2019 that features up-and-coming brands looking to enter brick and mortar.
Among the beauty companies that have recently expanded to all Ulta stores is skin care brand Bubble, which increased its presence last July by 50% after first entering the retailer in November 2022. Bubble also launched Cloud Surf, a cream moisturizer, which was exclusive in-store at Ulta Beauty for one month before wider distribution.
Ulta also added clean beauty brand Odele to over 1,300 of its stores in February 2023. Beauty brand Youthforia expanded its partnership with Ulta Beauty in March of this year and is now selling its Date Night Skin Tint Serum Foundation in 525 Ulta stores, while its BYO Blush is in all of the beauty retailer’s locations.
Ulta Beauty CEO Dave Kimbell said in January that staying ahead of the curve with innovative new brands is key to the retailer’s ongoing success. In its most recent fiscal year, Ulta reported sales increased 9.8% to $11.2 billion in 2023, while net income increased 3.9% to $1.3 billion.
