Dive Brief:
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Ulta Beauty this week announced the expansion of its in-store wellness spaces to more than 1,330 locations nationally.
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Dubbed “The Wellness Shop,” the spaces will have “a new, elevated spa-like redesign, and added educational information throughout the displays to help fuel discovery,” the retailer said by email. Ulta expanded into the wellness space with the dedicated shops in May 2021.
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Ulta also is expanding its assortment, with new brand introductions as well as increased offerings from existing partners in supplements, oral care and hydration, among other categories.
Dive Insight:
Consumers are proving to be quite choosy these days, but all age groups are prioritizing health and wellness, with 85% to 90% maintaining their spending on those categories, according to research from GlobalWebIndex and PMG. Retailers across both healthcare and beauty have expanded into the wellness space in recent years to capitalize on a consumer that sees the two as increasingly connected.
To woo these consumers, Ulta is expanding and improving its wellness spaces in stores and online. The company said the assortment tied to this effort includes new and expanded offerings from Moon Juice, Lemme, Golde, Love Wellness, OUAI, Womaness and Olly. This month, Ulta will also introduce Liquid IV ’s hydration elixirs.
The effort is poised to only solidify Ulta’s already strong position. In its most recent quarter, the retailer reported a 10% net sales jump to $2.5 billion, with comps rising 8% and profits up. The company also touted double-digit traffic growth in the period and sales growth in every major category.
TD Cowen analysts led by Oliver Chen on Wednesday named Walmart and Ulta as their most favored retail picks going into the holidays, noting Ulta’s 42 million loyalty members and strength as a specialty retailer of both mass and prestige cosmetics, skin care and hair care.
“Furthermore, we like their lesser degree of weather exposure and data-centric loyalty program execution,” Chen said, noting that, with warmer weather expected this year, winter apparel sales may be lackluster.
