Ulta Beauty Buying Strategy

Page 1


INTRO Retailer and Area of Business International Expansion 6 Month Plan: Topline and New Location Assortment Plan Purchase Order Integrated Marketing Plan


COMPETITORS Bath and Body Works

Sephora

Target

Expanded to over 25 countries Products are almost all private label 1,800 worldwide stores

Expanded to over 15 countries Sells high end and private label cosmetics Around 1,800 stores worldwide Has booths in departmentstores

Expanded to 2 other countries Offers mass market cosmetics Around 1,800 stores HQ location in India


COMPETITORS Cult Beauty

Boots

Selfridges

Likely will be ULTA's biggest competitor in the U.K. Sells mix of prestige and mass market (not as many as ULTA) Offer more exclusive/unique products than ULTA Popular U.K. drugstore Offers mass market cosmetics ULTA should sell products that Boots sells-that might not be available in the US-to remain competitive

4 stores in the U.K. Offers high end cosmetics More of a destination/luxurious shopping experience than ULTA


SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGTHS ULTA's business model, which is a combination of mass market and prestige products all in one place Their convenient locations Loyalty program and strong relationship with customer Sales on an upward swing

OPPORTUNITIES Their biggest opportunity is to expand outside of the United States Continued expansion within the U.S.

WEAKNESSES They have not expanded internationally Lack of international expansion pushes them behind competitors even if they are doing better in the United States

THREATS Any down swings in the economy Competitors Potential miscalculations in predicting beauty trends and new products


We're on a quest to bring the fun of beauty to all -- constantly delighting our guests with all things beauty all in one place, while offering rewarding careers for our passionate, beauty-loving associates. ULTA BEAUTY'S CORE MISSION


HISTORY 1990 first brick-and-mortar ULTA opens after Hanson&George raise 11.5M in venture capital

1989 Dick George writes ULTA's first business plan; Terry Hanson comes on board

1999 Ulta3 becomes ULTA

1994 all typical drug store products eliminated : vitamins, oral health, etc

2013 Mary Dillion is hired (CEO)

2007 Company goes public

2015 Sales increased by 21% from 2014


ULTA Beauty establishes itself as the onestop shop for all things beauty at all price points. They are the only store in the United States to offer prestige and mass market products in the same store. BRAND POSITIONING


SIZE OF BUSINESS ULTA Revenues*

Market Share ULTA Beauty 6%

6

4

2

0

2013

*in billions

2014

2015

2016

2017

US Cosmetics 94%

As a whole, the US Cosmetic industry made around 84B in 2016. ULTA made up 4.85B of that revenue.


PRESENCE NUMBER OF STORES

SOCIAL MEDIA 4.5M

ULTA Beauty has 1,074 brick-and-mortar stores in 48 states and D.C.

3.375M

Additionally, ULTA provides e-commerce through their website, ulta.com

2.25M

1.125M

0M Twitter

Instagram

Facebook


PRICING ULTA covers price points from drugstore to high end They price high end products identically or very comparably to Sephora and department stores Drugstore products are priced higher than they are at Target or Walmart, but identically to CVS ULTA ranges from about $0.50 to $2 more expensive than stores with Everyday Low Pricing Strategies


TARGET CUSTOMER GEOGRAPHIC Currently all of ULTA's customers are located in the United States, as ULTA is only located there More specifically, cities and large suburbs with the largest concentrated area of stores being in California

PSYCHOGRAPHIC Customer loves makeup and being introduced to new products Wants the convenience of high and low in one store Likes a mix of high and low products

DEMOGRAPHIC Age range: 18-34 Middle class to upper middle class Largest consumer bases: Caucasian and Hispanic Target customer has at least a college degree, or is pursuing one Likely does not have children

BEHAVIORISTIC Likely to always make a purchase in ULTA Gravitate toward ULTA for mix of high and low products


TARGET CUSTOMER Number of Potential Customers 83.1M Millennials in the United States 41.55M are girls 90% of those meet the other ULTA target customer specifications Total number of potential customers: 38M


COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE Product offering: high and low end Full service salons that add to the customer experience Cuts need for multiple stops on shopping trips Strong loyalty program: 23M users ULTA collects data through their loyalty program that they share with their brand partners for their benefit, incentivizing brands to place high value on their relationships with ULTA


AREA OF BUSINESS Estee Lauder, Clinique, and Lancome make up the selected area of business These brands attract a similar target customer Clinique and Estee Lauder are owned by the same brand, but Lancome's parent company is L'Oreal They offer similar products that tackle a lot of skin concerns such as acne and antiaging They are well developed brands with an established group of popular products, making them a low risk, clear cut brand to buy from


INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION

The United Kingdom is the chosen area for expansion ULTA will open a store in London Competitors have been successful there, which means there are potential ULTA customers there ULTA's target market exists heavily there Though ULTA has competitors there, there is not a store with the exact same high low set up and salon experience as ULTA


INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION LAWS/PROS

CONSUMERS

Joint lowest corporation tax in the G20:

2% growth in skincare purchases in

20%

2017, while other toiletries categories

Strong work force

are dropping

Dept for International Trade offers

More money spent online shopping

certain free services to overseas

per UK household than in any other

countries wanting to expand to the UK

country

2nd largest port un EU, largest airport,

Weather has been keeping people

excellent railways

from shopping at brick-and-mortar - in

Must register company with Companies

March, the number of shoppers

House - cost is 20 pounds

dropped by 6%

Extensive IP protection

High street decreased around 8%, but

Enterprise zones could be worthwhile

centers/retail parks only dropped

to look into for store locations

around 4.8% and 1.8%, which means a store like ULTA would attract more people than stores on the high street


TRENDS MACRO

COSMETICS

Rise of the middle class leads to

Glowy skin

increased consumer spending

Natural makeup--fewer powders

Urban transitioning means

Makeup products that also have

increased foot traffic in stores

skincare benefits

People moving and studying

Environmentally friendly products

abroad

Brand transparency

Continued worldwide connection

Cruelty free testing

via social media and technology


OVERALL 6 MONTH PLAN


NEW LOCATION 6 MONTH PLAN


INTERNATIONAL LOCATION

London makes sense as the first place for ULTA to expand internationally because it high enough population of ULTA's target market for them to be successful there. Additionally, ULTA already receives publicity from some of England's largest beauty bloggers and influencers. This means ULTA already has its foot in the door there, as well a great marketing opportunities. Beauty influencer/YouTuber, Zoe Snugg (Zoella, 12.1M subscribers), has a brand called Zoella Beauty that is sold in ULTA stores. Though is already available in the U.K., ULTA can potentially use their relationship with Snugg to bring in business to the new ULTA location.


TARGET CUSTOMER: LONDON PSYCHOGRAPHIC DEMOGRAPHIC Our target age range is 18-34 year olds. Middle class to upper middle class customers. They have at least a university degree, or they are in the process of getting one. In the US, ULTA's largest consumer base is Caucasians and Hispanic people. There is a much smaller number of Hispanic people living in the U.K., so ULTA's biggest consumers in the U.K. would be most likely be Caucasians.

Our customer loves makeup and being introduced to new products They want the convenience of high and low in one store

BEHAVIORAL They like being able to try lots of products all in one place. They will likely always spend money when they go in ULTA, and ULTA's high and low pricing allows them to.

GEOGRAPHIC Our target customer lives in London and surrounding areas


TARGET CUSTOMER: LONDON

Number of target customers in London: ~1.7M Millennials in London ~880,000 are females Around 50% of those people fit the rest of our target customer profile On top of that we have a large number of shoppers outside of the typical target consumer Our estimated number of consumers is around 440K-500K people


PRICING STRATEGIES

As closely as possible, it will be important to match prices of competitors in England Prices might be higher because importing them into the country might mean higher taxes. ULTA's mix of high end and low end products will appeal to the London consumer who wants the option to shop both in one place Because two of their biggest competitors are a drug store and a department store that sells high end cosmetics, ULTA could compete strongly as the store that offers both


ASSORTMENT PLAN


ASSORTMENT PLAN

Inventory to carry: $379,117 Average inventory value based on per unit tickets: $60,924 Projected Sales: $163,836.00 Projected Average Unit Retails: $55


PURCHASE ORDER


INTEGRATED MARKETING PLAN OUTLINE

In-store posters advertising for Clinique, Lancome, and Estee Lauder Social Media posts on Ulta's Instagram "Available at Ulta" on Clinique, Estee Lauder and Lancome ads in London Promo posts done by influencers who have already worked with Clinique, Lancome and Estee Lauder Bring said influencers in for launch event

OBJECTIVES

Increase foot traffic by 20% by working with influencers and promoting with influencers. Use influencers to encourage consumers to purchase these three brands from Ulta as opposed to competitors Make up 5%-10% of opening sales.


BUDGET Opening Party: Part of Ulta's overall marketing budget Relatively large budget in comparison to our projected sales (~27%) justified because it should increase overall sales and bring in a lot of foot traffic for the entire store Objective and task (just for launch) Percentage of sales moving forward


SELECTED MERCHANDISE FOR PROMOTION


SCHEDULE


PROMO MESSAGE ULTA Beauty is coming to the U.K., and you can be a part of our launch party. Sign up o ulta.com to attend the opening, receive a 20% discount to spend on Clinique, Estee Lauder and Lancome products and meet some of your favorite faces of the brands.


PROMO ACTIVITIES In-store posters Sponsor influencer posts Bring influencers to opening party Posts on ULTA's social media Work with Estee Lauder, Lancome and Clinique to put out billboards or posters advertising that their products are available at ULTA


PROMO DETAILS Posters that advertise for these brands in ULTA will encourage shoppers to check out those sections Collaborate with the brands to put out billboards that inform customers that those brands are available in ULTA Work with influencers who have a history with these brands or work with them: Estee LaLonde, Danielle Peazer, Karlie Kloss Implement a lot of marketing digitally through social media accounts and the website. This is free and one of the most affective marketing strategies. Have each of these influencers as faces of the launch party--they will draw attention and bring in customers.


PROMO DETAILS Encourage people to attend the opening by having them use a promo code from an influencer If they use the promo code they will receive a 20% coupon to use on Clinique, Lancome or Estee Lauder products during the opening Pay influencers to post about themselves going to ULTA on their social media Continually advertise the opening and these three brands on Instagram


Danielle Peazer

Estee LaLonde

Karlie Kloss


Available at ULTA


CONCLUSION Expanding ULTA Beauty into the U.K. Do around 160K in sales in Q3 and Q4 Clinique will be the largest percent of this area of business's products, followed by Estee Lauder and then Lancome Implement an integrated marketing system that focuses on using digital platforms to advertise and involves influencers in the promotion and the opening party


SOURCES

Cosmetic Industry. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2018, from https://www.statista.com/topics/1008/ cosmetics-industry/ CVS. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2018, from https://www.cvs.com/ Bath and Body Works. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2018, from http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/ global-locations/global-locations.html How Ulta Suceeds. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2018, from https://www.mytotalretail.com/article/ how-ulta-suceeds-in-the-competitive-beauty-category/ Kukec, A. M. (n.d.). How Ulta grew from the suburbs into a top national retailer. Retrieved May 24, 2018, from http://www.dhbusinessledger.com/article/20170205/business/170209989/ Lancome. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2018, from https://www.sephora.com/search/ search.jsp?keyword=lancome&mode=all Lancome. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2018, from https://www.sephora.com/search/ search.jsp?keyword=lancome&mode=all Makeup Trends 2018. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2018, from https://www.refinery29.com/ makeup-trends-2018?bucketed=true&bucketing_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F Maybelline. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2018, from https://www.target.com/ s?searchTerm=maybelline&category=0|All|matchallpartial|all%20categories&lnk=snav_ta_maybelline_s News Release Details. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2018, from http://ir.ultabeauty.com/news-releases/ news-release-details/2018/Ulta-Beauty-Announces-Fourth-Quarter-Fiscal-2017-Results/default.aspx Our Story. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2018, from http://careers.ulta.com/our-story/ Sephora. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2018, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/walterloeb/2013/04/18/ sephora-department-stores-cannot-stop-its-global-growth/#538d20862e81 UK Consumers Spending More on Skincare. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2018, from https://uk.kantar.com/ consumer/leisure/2018/uk-consumers-spending-more-on-skincare/ UK Retailers See Drop In Shopper Numbers. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2018, from https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/apr/16/uk-retailers-see-6-drop-in-shopper-numbers-in-march Ulta Beauty, INC. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2018, from One Source website: https://app.avention.com/ company/f8792619-81e3-3297-8a17-fa05f2308da8#report/company_summary 10 Global Macro Trends for the Next 5 Years. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2018, from https://blog.euromonitor.com/2012/11/10-global-macro-trends-for-the-next-five-years.html


TOPLINE 6 MONTH


NEW LOCATION 6 MONTH


Inventory Levels

ULTA's Q3 total revenue = 41% of season's revenue ULTA Q4 total revenue = 59% of season's revenue Q3+Q4 total revenue = 3.28B My area of business= about 5% of the season's revenue or 164M ULTA has about 1K stores The new location would do around 1/1000 of ULTA's total business for Lancome, Estee Lauder and Clinique or ~164K Our biggest sales months would be September, November and December because of the semi annual sale, the Black Friday Sale and Cyber Monday sale, and the holidays Our markdowns would be highest in September and November (our big sale months), as well as January (also a big sale month); less people buy in January due to overspending during the holidays Our employee discounts would be the highest during the biggest sales months Shortages would be highest around Christmas time All of these factor into the stock levels for each month


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.