Walmart is rethinking what the mass beauty shopping experience looks like, and who delivers it. As part of its broader Beauty 2.0 strategy, the retailer is piloting a new in-store role, Beauty Expert, designed to bring deeper product knowledge, stronger customer engagement, and greater ownership to the beauty aisle.
Currently being tested in select stores across Texas and Arkansas and slated for rapid expansion, the program will reach more than 400 locations nationwide by year’s end. The move signals a meaningful shift in how Walmart approaches one of retail’s most competitive and fast-evolving categories: investing not just in assortment and space, but in people.
At its core, the Beauty Expert role replaces a shared-responsibility model with an associate: someone trained to guide discovery, support merchandising, and create a more interactive in-store experience. It’s a structure more commonly associated with prestige retail, where education and service are key drivers of conversion, but one Walmart is now adapting at scale.
“Walmart is creating new opportunities for associates, like the Beauty Expert, to serve our customers better as shopping habits evolve,” the company shared with BeautyMatter. “The Beauty Expert role introduces a more dedicated, category-focused associate model, allowing Walmart to test how specialized talent and stronger ownership can enhance the in-store experience.”
Designed to attract and retain talent in a competitive labor market, the Beauty Experts will earn between $14 and $35 per hour, depending on location, and receive a suite of benefits, including healthcare, 401(k) access, and a 10% employee discount on beauty products. Notably, associates will receive Walmart Beauty Boxes, enabling them to trial products firsthand and deliver more informed, credible recommendations, a tactic long used by prestige retailers to build authority on the sales floor.
From a competitive positioning standpoint, the introduction of a more knowledgeable, dedicated associate begins to close the experiential gap between mass and prestige. Historically rooted in price and accessibility, Walmart’s advantage evolves with the Beauty Expert model, which signals an effort to compete more directly on service, discovery, and personalization, areas where retailers like Sephora and Ulta Beauty have set the standard.
The initiative also reflects a broader recalibration of in-store roles in an omnichannel environment. Beauty Experts are not just tasked with selling products, but with helping customers navigate a blended physical and digital ecosystem. “Beauty Experts support customers in navigating the in-store assortment and product information as part of a more category-focused role, helping create a more seamless and accessible shopping experience,” the company noted. “We’re also focusing on building engagement with our Virtual Try-On platform, which will help customers discover the full assortment of brands available in-store and online.”
While Walmart has not disclosed specific KPIs for the pilot, it confirmed that performance is being evaluated using both business and customer experience metrics. “Early results from pilot stores are encouraging, showing strong momentum as we continue to test, learn, and refine the role,” the company shared—momentum that has already supported expansion plans.
Beyond the immediate impact on sales, the role is also being positioned as a long-term investment in workforce development. Beauty Experts are being trained not only in product knowledge and customer engagement, but also in operational and merchandising fundamentals, creating a pathway into leadership roles such as Team Lead and Coach. Over time, the company sees potential for this talent pipeline to expand into corporate merchandising and home-office positions.
“The Beauty Expert role is designed to build category knowledge and operational experience, creating a pathway into leadership,” Walmart said. “It also introduces a specialized career pathway within stores, reflecting a broader investment in associate development and long-term career growth.”
The pilot underscores a larger shift underway in mass beauty retail: the recognition that assortment alone is no longer enough. As consumer expectations evolve—shaped by prestige environments, social discovery, and digital interactivity—retailers are being pushed to rethink not just what they sell, but how they sell it. For Walmart, the answer may lie in scaling something traditionally difficult to operationalize at mass: expertise.
