Ulta Beauty (ULTA) To Open Mini Stores At Target (TGT) To Extend Reach

Cosmetics stores network Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA) and retailer Target Corp. (TGT) this week announced a collaboration agreement. Ulta Beauty mini-stores will be open in hundreds of Target salesrooms as part of the partnership. Furthermore, Ulta Beauty items can be accessed via the Target.com website.

It is reported that the new stores in Target will be almost ten times smaller in size than the free-standing Ulta Beauty stores. In such shops, however, the business will maintain a high level of customer service and aims to use the key technologies there. The Ulta GLAMlab digital virtual fitting tool, which enables customers to virtually test products, will also be offered to customers in those Ulta Beauty’s mini stores.

Initially, the new concept stores will only open at 100 selected Target locations in 2021, but future collaboration is expected to extend the chain to hundreds of stores.

Customers who buy Ulta Beauty items at an online store on the Target platform will be able to use the wide variety of pick-up and delivery offers provided by the retailer, including, where possible, same-day delivery as well as free delivery or pick-up options.

In reality, Ulta Beauty greatly increases its target audience with this partnership and simplifies access to its products for current and new customers. Furthermore, this approach for Ulta Beauty can be considered a “safety net”. Shopping centers and many freestanding stores were closed during the pandemic, while supermarkets such as Target remained accessible to shoppers. For the reason, Ulta Beauty cannot sustain those losses if the lockdowns are repeated.

Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA) stock was worth $248.08 on Thursday with a weekly gain of 15.78%. Over the quarter, stock’s performance rose to 10.05 percent which increased to 23.76 percent in the past six months while that dropped 2.00 percent since beginning of the year.