This week, I am recapping my on-stage conversation with Laura Beres, vp of wellness at Ulta Beauty, at Glossy’s annual Beauty & Wellness Summit in Newport Beach last week. Highlights include her unique perspective on Ulta’s two wellness consumers, what wellness shoppers are looking for today, and how existing brands can soon utilize Ulta’s UB Marketplace to test new products and categories.
Additionally, tech-y massage concept Squeeze is acquired, Tracy Anderson Method expands to Miami, supplement company Cymbiotika raises $25 million, and British Vogue gets a new wellness lead.
As Ulta Beauty leans further into wellness, two main consumer profiles have emerged
“For us, it’s really two types of [wellness] consumers,” said Laura Beres, vp of wellness at Ulta Beauty. “One is that beauty enthusiast guest, … who came out of Covid and said, ‘I still really love beauty, but I also want to feel empowered in a different way’.”
This customer is looking for things within the wellness assortment that make them feel good, and they are eager to shop and experiment across the entire wellness portfolio. This is, perhaps, the best example of the lines between wellness and beauty blurring into new and unique categories and beauty-forward partnerships. Examples include inside-out beauty, supplements from beauty-adjacent brands, and modalities focused on looking and feeling good.
“Then we have another consumer who’s a little bit more hardcore about wellness, and they may be wellness-first, instead of beauty-first,” Beres said. This shopper has a good understanding of buzzy wellness and longevity science, exercises regulatory, and takes their longevity routine seriously.
“We’re absolutely focused on our beauty enthusiast and telling that holistic story of self-care, finding that ‘feel good’ in your day-to-day, and really tying it to your overall beauty and wellness routine,” she said. “But we have a really compelling assortment that will meet the needs of that wellness-first guest [as well].”
Beres told Glossy that the “vast majority” of Ulta’s wellness sales are from beauty-first customers, but it is seeing more traction from the wellness-first consumer now. The latter consumer is a growing focus.
As previously reported by Glossy, Ulta Beauty’s new UB Marketplace has allowed the company to expand into several different categories including many within wellness. One benefit of the UB Marketplace is its ability to test products and categories before bringing items onto store shelves. While not possible today, current Ulta brands will soon be able to test new SKUs on the marketplace, Beres told Glossy.
As far as what her team is buying, much of it ladders up to innovation.
“I’m looking at three key factors when I’m looking at innovation in the market,” Beres said. “One is the consumer, and just the access they have to data today. The second is research in certain areas of this market, and then the third is investment.”
The first in this list is largely driven by consumer access to technology like AI search and analysis. Beres told Glossy that more and more shoppers are walking Ulta Beauty aisles while using ChatGPT, as well as apps like Yuka and SuppCo, to assess prospective purchases. To win, brands must show up in the right way on these apps.
“We definitely see that playing out in our stores, and we see it in what they’re asking our associates, as well,” Beres said. “We’ve got to make sure our associates are at the forefront of all of these topics. For us, it’s a partnership effort with our brands to really invest in that education to make sure the knowledge base is there [for our sales staff].”
When it comes to research, Beres is most interested in intimate care and menopause and perimenopause solutions. “When a topic that previously was taboo comes into the spotlight as aggressively as [these have] in the past couple of years, research is going to follow, and that’s going to fuel innovation,” she said.
As far as the industry investment Beres is most excited about, she mentioned nutrition and supplements, intimate care, sleep and recovery, and products that provide feel-good moments of self-care. The latter includes an opportunity to upgrade a replenishment item, like oral care, or introduce something new, like tech-y shower filters.
“We’re excited about being able to give guests that moment every day where they’re able to do something for themselves that’s going to make them feel good about themselves,” she said.
Overall, Beres said Ulta is looking for brands that stand for transparency, have an authentic story, are backed up with clinical studies and have the ability to effectively explain its science to consumers at the point of sale.
“We’re looking for brands that, yes, have all of the serious qualifications and are buttoned up,” she said. “But we’re also looking for brands that can step into the approachability of the category. It is an overwhelming category for the consumer, [so we’re looking for] the brands that can really tell the story in a rooted way, in education and navigation with clarity. Those are the ones that are going to win over time.”
Executive moves:
- Esteemed editor and longtime Vogue contributor Funmi Fetto has been appointed beauty and wellness director at British Vogue. She was formerly the publication’s style editor and will helm beauty and wellness coverage beginning in January.
News to know:
- Wearable maker NextSense has taken on $16 million in series A funding led by Ascension Ventures. The company, which was part of Google’s Moonshot Factory incubator, is currently taking pre-orders for its ‘smartbuds’ ear buds that are said to help promote sleep and track the user’s sleep patterns. They sell for $399.
- Supplement company Cymbiotika has raised $25 million in seed funding, thanks to a laundry list of powerhouse names like entrepreneur David Grutman, DJ and model Peggy Gou, recording artist The Weeknd, and more. The San Diego-based nutrition company was launched in 2024 and currently sells DTC and through Target.
- Five-year-old private equity firm GoSaga has acquired Squeeze, the techy massage concept launched by Drybar founders Alli Webb, Michael Landau and Brittany Driscoll in 2019. There are currently 13 locations and 35 not-yet-opened franchises opening soon. “Squeeze has reimagined what a modern recovery experience can be, and we’re thrilled to help scale that vision to more communities across the country,” said Geoff Schneider, GoSaga founder and CEO.
- Tracy Anderson, the celebrity fitness trainer known for her Tracy Anderson Method group fitness classes, opened her first studio in the Southeast. The South Florida location opened this week in the Miami neighborhood of Coral Gables.
- Peloton reported a 5.5% YoY jump in sales during its earnings call on Friday. The company reported revenue of $550.8 million for the quarter, beating out analyst predictions. This is in spite of a recent hardware recall that caused stocks to briefly tumble. The recall includes seat posts for more than 800,000 bikes sold in North America.
Stat of the week:
The global health and fitness club market is set to grow from $102.3 billion in 2024 to $234.8 billion by 2034, thanks to a compound annual growth rate of 8.8%, according to a new report released by Allied Market Research last week. The market’s growth is supported by a cultural shift toward wellness and active living, according to the firm. North America is the most developed market, while Germany, the U.K. and France lead the European market.
In the headlines:
Brands team up on gift sets to widen their reach this holiday season. ‘Shakeout runs’ take over NYC Marathon as brands eye long-term ROI. FDA Calls for removal of hormone-replacement therapy warnings. Everything nutritionists want you to know about creatine.
Need a Glossy recap?
Life Time High Performance aims to bridge community, content and cardio — for a $3,000 price tag. Behind Unilever’s creator and social strategy for next year’s World Cup. Can Ulta crack the Middle East fragrance market? Front-loaded inventory, price increases and thinner margins: How brands are tackling a tariff-altered holiday season.
