As soon as upon a time, magnificence buying was performed in individual. Prospects flocked to main department shops like Macy’s and Saks, the place a shopgirl may help them find the proper lipstick shade or suggest one of the best skincare merchandise for his or her pores and skin kind.
However these days are lengthy gone.
On-line magnificence gross sales are rising at an expedited charge, greater than 9 occasions sooner than in-store gross sales, in response to NIQ’s State of Magnificence 2025 report. Within the U.S. alone, on-line magnificence gross sales grew 21% 12 months over 12 months, indicating that customers are way more excited about comfort than they’re in testing merchandise in-person.
“Digital-first strategies are now the backbone of beauty retail,” NIQ Vice President of Magnificence & Private Care Tara James Taylor stated in an announcement. “Brands must meet consumers where they are — online, on social, and on mobile. Today’s consumer demands flexibility and convenience.”
Taking that recommendation to coronary heart, Ulta Magnificence is making a brand new change that may make buying on the retailer simpler and extra handy than ever.
Ulta is increasing e-commerce achievement
Over the past 12 months, Ulta has doubled the variety of shops that fulfill e-commerce orders.
Greater than 1,000 of Ulta Magnificence’s U.S. places can now course of and dispatch orders made by the retailer’s web site or cell app, in response to a latest report filed with the Securities and Trade Fee. That is up from simply 500 shops in 2024.
For frequent Ulta customers, this implies one factor: sooner supply occasions.
Internet buyers not have to attend for one of many firm’s bigger distribution facilities or market achievement facilities to obtain, bundle, and ship the order from lots of of miles away. Now, their orders will be processed and dealt with by shops simply up the highway, the place turnaround occasions are faster and delivery distances are shorter.
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Ulta’s fast rollout of store-based achievement facilities will be largely attributed to its implementation of AI.
Ulta Magnificence CEO Kecia Steelman known as out the retailer’s “investment in AI and automation” as a significant development the corporate made throughout This autumn.
The “implementation of an AI-powered order management system to optimize fulfillment across our network, enabling our expansion of ship from store and reducing out-of-stocks and markdown risks,” was a spotlight of the previous couple of months, Steelman instructed buyers throughout Ulta’s This autumn FY2025 earnings name.
Ulta Magnificence leveraged a brand new AI-powered order administration system to double its store-based achievement community in 2025, slashing supply occasions for internet buyers.
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Ulta Magnificence is altering up how one can store
The rise within the variety of shops appearing as achievement facilities is particularly essential, given how shortly Ulta is increasing its ecommerce platforms.
In October 2025, the wonder retailer launched UB Market.
“UB Marketplace allows us to deliver more newness, faster entry into emerging subcategories and trends, and deeper category authority — while keeping the guest experience unmistakably Ulta Beauty,” Ulta Magnificence Chief Merchandising and Digital Officer Lauren Brindley stated in an announcement on the time.
On the shut of This autumn FY2025, Steelman instructed buyers the platform now supplied greater than 200 manufacturers and 5,000 SKUs, giving clients entry to one of many largest assortments of latest and rising manufacturers within the magnificence area.
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Only a few months later, in early 2026, Ulta launched a storefront on TikTok Store.
“We will initially launch with a thoughtfully curated assortment of Only at Ulta brands, which will add another exciting tool to our brand-building playbook,” Steelman stated on the earnings name, noting that there have been plans to broaden the choices over time.
TikTok Store has an enormous person base, estimated to hit 57.7 million customers in 2026, in response to market analysis firm Emarketer.
“TikTok Shop’s user base skews young and discovery-driven, with much of the research agreeing that growth is primarily coming from Gen Z and millennial adoption,” Emarketer Senior Forecasting DirectorOscar Orozco stated. “Health, wellness, and beauty are top categories, followed by accessories, household items, fashion, and cosmetics, according to our research.”
With these new promoting platforms, Ulta is poised to see large progress in its e-commerce gross sales. Retailer-based achievement facilities, then, will likely be very important in guaranteeing the retailer is ready to preserve and enhance supply speeds.
New at Ulta
In case your magnificence routine may use a refresh this spring, Ulta has a number of new and rising manufacturers out there on UB Market, its TikTok Store storefront, and cell app. Highlights embrace:
- DRMTLGY, a dermatologist-tested skincare model
- Hairstory, a clean-ingredient, refillable hair care model
- Iota, a treatment-focused physique care model
- Made by Mitchell, a do-it-all make-up model that received’t break the financial institution
Supply: Ulta
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