Beauty Packaging Staff11.13.20
In a recent webinar entitled “The Evolution of the Experiential Store,” Laura Kohl, SVP of applications, data and integrations at Ulta Beauty discussed how the beauty retail store has responded to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Pre-Covid, Ulta was working on some neat things, she says, but then Covid hit. So how did retail shift?
New Ways to Buy
Ulta was already doing the buy-online-pickup in-store, which a lot of retailers participate in, but it had to expand the service to all of its stores and ramp it up. Ulta was also playing with curbside pickup, but it hadn't started that yet. The company quickly pivoted to curbside, giving customers an option, whether or not they wanted to go physically into the store, or if they wanted something more quickly versus an online order that might take a few days.
Later, as stores began reopening and customers started to come back inside, safety standards became critical. Ulta is requiring everyone to have facial coverings and social distance, when possible. The company has hand sanitizer stations throughout the stores, and there's a lot of deep cleaning that happens frequently.
New In-Store Experience
In-store services have also started again. According to Kohl, Ulta is having a lot of business on the services side. Every other chair is empty to keep distance, but Kohl remarks the services have become much more prevalent and profitable during Covid.
In the physical store, things have shifted into Ulta’s Glam Lab, which is the company’s virtual try-on tool. With Glam Lab, customers can look at different hair colors, skin, brows and pallets. This way, customers can see what things look like while the testers are unavailable due to the pandemic.
“What's fun about going into an Ulta store is actually trying on some things or smelling the products or feeling the product, that just can't happen right now. So at least with this virtual try-on, it quickly shifted into that… It complements the store experience,” Kohl explained.
Ulta also has a skin analysis, so it can recommend you, through some AI, different products that might be good for your skin. Whether you're in-store or not, if you want to have a personal consultation, you can do a face-to-face video or an AI chat.
“Ulta Beauty is definitely a place where beauty lives, and the possibilities are endless. The omnichannel experiences will continue on and I am really excited about where the future is going to take us,” Kohl concluded.
Pre-Covid, Ulta was working on some neat things, she says, but then Covid hit. So how did retail shift?
New Ways to Buy
Ulta was already doing the buy-online-pickup in-store, which a lot of retailers participate in, but it had to expand the service to all of its stores and ramp it up. Ulta was also playing with curbside pickup, but it hadn't started that yet. The company quickly pivoted to curbside, giving customers an option, whether or not they wanted to go physically into the store, or if they wanted something more quickly versus an online order that might take a few days.
Later, as stores began reopening and customers started to come back inside, safety standards became critical. Ulta is requiring everyone to have facial coverings and social distance, when possible. The company has hand sanitizer stations throughout the stores, and there's a lot of deep cleaning that happens frequently.
New In-Store Experience
In-store services have also started again. According to Kohl, Ulta is having a lot of business on the services side. Every other chair is empty to keep distance, but Kohl remarks the services have become much more prevalent and profitable during Covid.
In the physical store, things have shifted into Ulta’s Glam Lab, which is the company’s virtual try-on tool. With Glam Lab, customers can look at different hair colors, skin, brows and pallets. This way, customers can see what things look like while the testers are unavailable due to the pandemic.
“What's fun about going into an Ulta store is actually trying on some things or smelling the products or feeling the product, that just can't happen right now. So at least with this virtual try-on, it quickly shifted into that… It complements the store experience,” Kohl explained.
Ulta also has a skin analysis, so it can recommend you, through some AI, different products that might be good for your skin. Whether you're in-store or not, if you want to have a personal consultation, you can do a face-to-face video or an AI chat.
“Ulta Beauty is definitely a place where beauty lives, and the possibilities are endless. The omnichannel experiences will continue on and I am really excited about where the future is going to take us,” Kohl concluded.
