Ulta Beauty Debuts Revamped Retail Media Network

Ulta Beauty is joining several major retail chains by introducing a new retail media network. Known as UB Media, the network allows brands to send targeted ads on Ulta Beauty's app, website and other digital channels, such as email. It also lets marketers use Ulta Beauty's shopper data to better place ads across the web. Ulta Beauty currently boasts 37 million active loyalty members, who generated 95% of the retailer's total sales during its latest fiscal year. "The power of a retail media network is based on the first-party data a retailer has and the ability to allow a brand partner to reach that audience, wherever they may be," said Brent Rosso, vp of UB Media. "We know our guests like no one else knows them and that's a real differentiator in the space," he added. Rosso noted the media network is also looking into allowing brands to run ads in Ulta Beauty's more than 1,300 physical stores. UB Media, first announced during an analyst day in October 2021, is an evolved version of Ulta Beauty's digital marketing partner program, which has been around for a few years. More than 100 brands participated in the program last year—about double the amount compared to 2020. Rosso joined Ulta Beauty in October to help develop its retail media network after spending more than a decade working on digital media at Target. UB Media's ad-tech partners include Criteo, Google, Epsilon and Rise Interactive. For the fiscal year ending Jan. 29, Ulta Beauty reported $8.63 billion in net sales, a 40% increase compared to the prior period—a time when fewer people were wearing makeup due to face masks and pandemic-related restrictions on bars, offices and schools. Retail media keeps rising In recent years, companies from CVS to Instacart to Best Buy have either debuted or upgraded their own retail media network, as privacy concerns increase, the end of third-party cookies approaches and ecommerce remains elevated following the Covid-19 outbreak. "More people are introducing retail media networks because they can monetize their data and their site," said Mary Matyas, svp and general manager of North America at MediaMath, an ad-tech company that operates a demand-side platform. "It is definitely the wave of today and the future," she added. Ad spend on U.S. retail media increased 53% to $31.5 billion last year, according to figures from eMarketer. The research firm estimates that number will reach $52.2 billion in 2023, representing nearly one in five of all digital ad dollars. Then again, Amazon continues to dominate the space. In the opening quarter of 2022, the online behemoth reported $7.9 billion in advertising revenue, up 23% compared to the same period last year. In another sign of retail media's growing clout, information services company NielsenIQ recently unveiled NielsenIQ Activate, a feature designed to help target audiences and track ROI for retail media campaigns. “The market is evolving,” David Johnson, NielsenIQ's global president of retail, said in a statement. “It is our job to make sure the measurement industry evolves with the times.”

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Ulta Beauty Debuts Revamped Retail Media Network

The company's 37 million loyalty members drive 95% of all sales

Paul Hiebert

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