Key Takeaways:
For years, Ulta Beauty has been known as a one-stop shop for mass, prestige, and indie beauty. But what many beauty consumers don’t realize is that Ulta Beauty also operates one of the largest salon networks in the country. Every single Ulta Beauty store has a salon staffed by licensed professionals offering hair, skin, and makeup services.
It’s a strength the retailer admits has flown under the radar, but one it now sees as a key differentiator in the beauty retail battle with Sephora. Consumer awareness of its service offerings is lacking, even as Ulta Beauty works to elevate services as a core differentiator in an increasingly crowded beauty retail market. New national campaigns, experiential events, and storytelling built around associates behind the chair are now front and center in the company’s growth strategy.
“Despite having a salon in every single store, our awareness levels are low,” admitted Kelly Mahoney, Ulta Beauty’s Chief Marketing Officer, in an exclusive interview with BeautyMatter. “We need to elevate the way we talk about it, and experiential activations are the perfect place to bring services to life.”
Ulta Beauty’s Spotlight on Beauty Services
At this year’s Lollapalooza in Chicago, Ulta Beauty brought its services front and center. The retailer’s Beat Suite activation incorporated hair tinseling and face gems led by Ulta Beauty service professionals. For many festivalgoers, this was their first opportunity to experience the service side of the brand. Guests waited upwards of three hours for a chance at a chair, underscoring not only the appetite for festival glam but also the potential of Ulta Beauty’s in-store services when tied to a cultural moment like a music festival.
“The joy they are experiencing when they come through, even after waiting hours, is what makes it worth it,” said Mahoney. “They’re experiencing the service side of what we do, which is really what differentiates us. Something simple and fun encourages them to want to do that even more within our stores.”
At Lollapalooza, this came to life not only through festival activations but also through a celebrity partnership when breakout girl group KATSEYE stopped by Ulta Beauty’s Chicago flagship on Michigan Avenue to meet fans before their festival debut. The retailer has increasingly leaned into the intersection of beauty and music as the exclusive retailer for Cecréd by Beyoncé and Isima by Shakira, two haircare brands from superstars with broad global fanbases. Ulta Beauty supported Beyoncé’s Cécred launch with a nationwide roadshow and concert-inspired influencer activations.
Ulta Beauty’s decision to pop up at a music festival was a strategic move to enhance customer experience and expand access, aligning with the company’s core growth pillars. The retailer’s management team first outlined Ulta Beauty’s strategic priorities in October 2024 as part of its long-term plan for profitable growth and market leadership, which included four foundational focus areas: assortment, experience, access, and loyalty.
For Ulta Beauty, services are the retailer’s secret weapon for competitive advantage. The effort to highlight services was underway long before Lollapalooza. Earlier this year, Ulta Beauty launched a national campaign, complete with TV spots, paid social, and creative featuring real service associates behind the chair. The imagery is intentionally bright, joyous, and people-first, designed to shift perception from beauty retailer to beauty as an experience.
“We don’t just sell beauty products. We’re really trying to make the world a more beautiful place,” she said. “Beauty is a verb. It’s motion. If you feel good, if you look good, you spread that.”
Ulta Beauty has yet to see its spotlight on services pay off: The services category remained flat at 4% for both the second quarter of 2025 and the first half of 2025, ending August 2, compared to the same periods ended August 3, 2024. Breathing new life into a stagnant category takes time, but Ulta Beauty is betting that steady investment in awareness campaigns, experiential activations, and associate-led storytelling will ultimately shift perception and unlock one of its most underleveraged growth opportunities.
Eventing as a Differentiator
Ulta Beauty also aims to enhance the in-store experience by increasing the number of in-store events. Earlier this month, Ulta Beauty announced a new birthday party program for tweens and teens, available at select locations. These 75-90 minute parties feature skincare demos, makeup tutorials, games, and giveaways, with guests receiving a gift bag valued at over $100. Pricing start at $42 per person for a group of 4-12 guests, and optional add-ons like hair styling are available for an additional fee. Attendees also receive a 20% off coupon and can bring their own cake and snacks.
Outside of birthday parties, the retailer is expanding branded eventing. These visits are a form of experiential marketing where a brand directly engages with customers at the retail location. Inside stores, this can range from founder meet-and-greets to hands-on product discovery sessions. Upcoming events include a “no tox” party with Estée Lauder, a lesson on building a routine for a stronger skin barrier with Kopari, and a masterclass that teaches the secret to glass skin with Peach & Lily.
The average Ulta Beauty store is approximately 10,000 square feet, which provides plenty of space to host branded activations. Coupled with Ulta Beauty's expansive assortment across categories, the footprint becomes a space for discovery, education, and connection.
“We can create experiences where we can invite our guests in and they get to play with products and learn about the products and discover new products in a way that only really we can do,” added Mahoney.
Eventing has proven especially effective for influencer-founded brands like DIBS Beauty and Divi. Jeff Lee, co-founder of DIBS Beauty, made it a personal mission to visit Ulta Beauty stores in all 50 states this year, engaging directly with shoppers and associates while gathering firsthand feedback. The effort appears to be paying off: DIBS Beauty was repeatedly highlighted by Ulta Beauty CEO Kecia Steelman and then-CFO Paula Oyibo during the company’s first-quarter earnings call as a key growth driver for the nation’s largest specialty beauty retailer.
“When you get to meet a founder or actually experience the reason why this brand is on the shelf, it changes everything,” Mahoney explained. “It makes you fall in love with the product in a much deeper way.”
DIBS Beauty’s multifunctional approach to product development and innovations like a double-ended mascara with the first-ever brown primer have helped it break through in the crowded color cosmetics category. Divi, with its scalp-first approach to haircare, has also gained significant traction since joining Ulta Beauty's shelves. The haircare brand’s Scalp Serum sold out within two hours of its launch at Ulta Beauty in 2022. The brand's strong initial performance led to a rapid expansion into over 1,200 Ulta Beauty stores within a year.
Mahoney credits Ulta Beauty's holistic support as a differentiator. “Others might just launch a brand and leave it, but [we] like to say we launch them and love them. That’s why DIBS Beauty and Divi have been so successful.”
Ulta’s Wellness Play
If services are Ulta Beauty's most underleveraged strength, wellness is its most ambitious growth bet.
Wellness is one of our number one breakthrough opportunities,” Mahoney said. “It’s beyond just a fifth category; it is a whole experience in and of itself.”
The retailer began testing wellness during the pandemic, when consumers leaned into self-care rituals like hair masks and at-home treatments. By 2020, Ulta Beauty was adding supplements, sleep aids, and ingestibles to its assortment, training associates to talk about sleep the way they would a serum.
Fast-forward to 2025, and Ulta Beauty is ready to scale. “We’re going to expand our assortment in a curated way, based on needs,” Mahoney explained. “Whether that’s menopause, a first period, or sleep support, we can be a partner in helping you feel like the best, most beautiful version of yourself.”
This shift mirrors cultural reframings of beauty: pro-aging, slow aging, and wellness as ritual rather than chore. Ulta Beauty sees itself as uniquely positioned to make those conversations mainstream.
Underpinning both services and wellness is personalization, a priority that plays to Ulta Beauty's data advantage. With over 45 million loyalty members—accounting for 95% of sales—the company has unprecedented insight into consumer behavior.
“When you have that much data, you have a lot of power and responsibility,” Mahoney said. “People want us to anticipate their needs, to introduce them to new things they didn’t even know about.”
That personalization increasingly occurs through AI-powered decisioning across digital channels, but it also extends into stores, where associates are being equipped with mobile tools to deliver tailored recommendations in real-time.
The result is a brand that can meet consumers across ages, life stages, and categories, without diluting its promise of “Beauty for All.”
Ulta Beauty's ambitions don’t stop at services and wellness. The retailer is pushing into international markets, preparing for a Mexico launch, and leaning into Steelman’s “Ulta Beauty Unleashed Plan,” which emphasizes speed, talent, and global scale.
Still, services and wellness remain at the heart of the growth story. In a crowded retail landscape where beauty products are available everywhere, Ulta Beauty is betting on experiences delivered by its 50,000 associates, amplified by data, and validated by culture.
Mahoney has been with Ulta Beauty for more than a decade but only stepped into the CMO role eight months ago. Her priorities are clear: reignite brand purpose, emphasize authenticity, and remind consumers why Ulta Beauty exists. More than aisles of makeup and skincare, Ulta Beauty sees itself as a beauty authority with the reach of a retailer and the intimacy of a salon.
As Mahoney put it, “We have the credibility, the authority, and the breadth to make beauty more than a purchase. It’s an experience, a ritual, and a joy. That’s what makes us different.”
