What's Happening?
Ulta Beauty has launched an online marketplace on its website and app, built on the Mirakl platform, as part of its Beauty Unleashed strategy. This move aims to expand Ulta's online presence and speed-to-market within emerging and trending categories.
The marketplace is integrated into Ulta's online shopping experience, offering unified search, cart, and checkout, along with Ulta Beauty Rewards on eligible purchases. The marketplace is open exclusively to brands by invitation, ensuring product quality and customer experience. Over 100 new brands are available, including Manucurist, Apotheke, and Babe Lash, with plans to scale the assortment over the next 12 to 18 months.
Why It's Important?
The launch of Ulta's online marketplace is a significant step in its digital transformation, aimed at addressing declining sales and market share losses. By offering a larger assortment of products, Ulta can attract new customers and retain existing ones, enhancing its competitive edge against other beauty retailers and e-commerce platforms like Amazon. The marketplace model allows Ulta to quickly adapt to consumer trends and introduce new brands, potentially increasing its market share and customer loyalty. This initiative also helps Ulta offset losses from the end of its partnership with Target, providing a new avenue for growth.
What's Next?
Ulta plans to quickly scale its marketplace assortment, continuously adding new brands and products. The marketplace will help Ulta maintain a seamless and complementary shopping experience for its customers, potentially leading to further integration of new brands into its physical stores. As Ulta expands its marketplace, it will focus on maintaining product quality and customer experience, ensuring the success of the initiative. The marketplace launch also positions Ulta to compete with other retailers that have recently added third-party marketplaces, signaling the increasing ubiquity of the model.
