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Interview

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Inside Ulta Beauty’s Digital Transformation: From Personalization to Marketplace

📍 Singapore

At NRF APAC 2025 in Singapore, Josh Friedman, Senior Vice President of Digital & E-commerce at Ulta Beauty, shared how the company is redefining beauty retail through a blend of personalization, innovation, and omnichannel strategy. With more than 1,400 stores, 45 million loyalty members, and a track record of double-digit e-commerce growth, Ulta is setting the pace for what modern beauty shopping can be.

Central to Ulta’s approach is the seamless integration of digital and physical experiences. Initiatives like Shop My Store give customers real-time visibility into local inventory, while partnerships with DoorDash and Instacart enable same-day delivery from any of Ulta’s store locations. The company’s 200,000-member online community is quickly becoming a space where customers, brands, and Ulta associates connect over product recommendations, trends, and events. “It’s really about being relevant and telling her what she wants to hear instead of what we want to say,” Friedman noted.

Ulta is also expanding its product ecosystem with a curated, invitation-only beauty and wellness marketplace set to launch this fall. This platform will allow hundreds of vetted sellers to join the Ulta experience without compromising the brand’s commitment to quality and trust. The marketplace not only opens new revenue streams but also provides a testing ground for emerging beauty and wellness products that may eventually reach physical stores.

Behind these initiatives lies a sophisticated data and technology backbone. Ulta is leveraging first-party and zero-party data, enhanced by AI-powered decision-making, to deliver personalized product recommendations, tailored messaging, and localized experiences. For Friedman, AI is not the goal but the enabler—helping Ulta deliver relevance, convenience, and inspiration at scale. By combining human connection with digital innovation, Ulta is positioning itself as a leader in the next era of beauty retail.

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