Despite cementing itself as the number-one beauty retailer in the country, Ulta Beauty is far from resting on its laurels. With a tiered approach that links an aggressive brick and mortar roll-out strategy with ramped-up salon services and unique cross-category exclusives, Ulta Beauty is looking to cement itself as the modern woman’s go-to beauty retailer.

“In the course of the last few years, we’ve really increased brand awareness; maintained our strategic approach to site selection; and continued to offer more compelling assortments of merchandise and in-store experiences for our guests,” said Dave Kimbell, Chief Merchandising and Marketing Officer for Ulta Beauty. “Our guests crave new products and experiences – and our ability to consistently deliver fresh offerings represents a big growth driver for us.”

With more than 1,100 stores across the country, and an additional 100 planned for this year, Ulta Beauty continually addresses a growing, and increasingly more discerning consumer. With a unique in-store focus, Ulta Beauty is constantly looking to scoop up hard-to-find emerging brands, helping to strengthen brand awareness for intriguing beauty newcomers.

“Because we are the nation’s largest beauty retailer, we are uniquely positioned to help emerging brands evolve and grow,” said Dave. “This type of mentoring has opened the doors for digitally native brands like ColourPop and Morphe to build awareness through a presence in our brick and mortar locations as well as Ulta.com. It’s a win-win for the brands and our guests as they can test, try and play with the products in store.”

Exclusivity and price point diversity are also focuses for Ulta Beauty, as the retailer routinely offers gift sets, color options and other SKUs across its mass, masstige and luxury brands that are not available anywhere else. “We work closely with our brand partners to develop items that are only available at Ulta Beauty, like Tarte Double Duty Beauty and IT Brushes for Ulta,” he said. “Within our exclusive Ulta Beauty Collection, we [also] continuously bring innovation and newness.”

Cosmetics, in fact, are such an important part of Ulta’s bottom line that the retailer recently underwent a “major mass cosmetics reflow,” expanding customer-favorites like Morphe, e.l.f. and Makeup Revolution, and introduced new brands like Milani, FLOWER Beauty and Wet n Wild. Morphe, which entered about half of Ulta stores in 2017, has been so well received that it will be rolled out to all doors by the end of the year. Plans also call for a second collaboration between Morphe and influencer Jaclyn Hill, which will be launching exclusively at Ulta Beauty at the end of 2018.

“Within the past year, we have launched more than 90 beauty brands, including new favorites such as ColourPop and Chanel Beauté, as well as expanding the offering of brands like MAC, Estée Lauder and NARS,” said Dave. “We’re really excited about one of our most recent and exclusive launches, Flesh, which offers 40 shades of foundation and other skin flattering makeup.”

MAC, which was brought into Ulta in May 2017, has been a hit with consumers, as Dave said the reaction to the beloved range has surpassed expectations. “Due to excitement and overall reception of the brand, we accelerated the rollout and added more MAC boutiques than originally projected,” said Dave. “We are delighted with the partnership and initial results have been excellent.”

The retailer’s vigorous brick and mortar growth model, which includes opening 100 stores per year over the next few years, positions Ulta to eventually reach a footprint somewhere between 1,400 and 1,700 stores. Ulta’s storied “guest-centric” offline strategy is centered on customer convenience, as it mainly targets easy-to-access, off-mall locations. “The addition of new store openings in Manhattan, on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, and most recently, our first store in Hawaii, speaks to this approach,” Dave said.

And within those stores, Dave reveals the retailer is looking to elevate salon offerings in hair, skin and brow to serve its salon consumer, who is also the store’s top shopper.

“We recently rolled out a new services optimization model in select stores that is designed to transform our services business by attracting, growing and retaining high-quality talent and enhancing the overall guest experience,” he said, adding that there are 8,000 stylists currently employed by Ulta. “This includes updates to our services menu, pricing, career development and compensation models as well as additional education and support for our salon teams.We’ve seen such great success with this model that we plan to roll it out to all of our stores by 2019.”

And just where does digital fall in all this? Dave said offering omni-channel access to Ulta’s “differentiated, engaging and relevant guest experiences” is an integral part of the consumer journey.

“Our guests appreciate the ability to touch, try and play while in-store and many do their research online or through our mobile app before making a purchase,” Dave said. “The proof is in the ‘purchase.’ We’ve seen that omni-channel guests who shop across channels are among some of our best guests, spending two and a half times more than retail only guests.”