Thanks for Visiting!

Register for free to get the full story.

Sign Up
Already have a Placer.ai account? Log In

Beauty’s Early 2022 Performance: Checking In on Ulta, Sephora, and Bath & Body Works

by 
Shira Petrack
 on 
March 8, 2022
Beauty’s Early 2022 Performance: Checking In on Ulta, Sephora, and Bath & Body Works

The beauty sector saw a surge in visits in recent months as consumers stocked up on makeup and skincare products to celebrate their return to school, work, and social engagements. We checked in with sector visit leaders Ulta, Bath & Body Works, and Sephora to find out how these brands are performing and what lies ahead for the beauty category. 

Ulta 

Ulta Beauty, one of the largest beauty retailers in the United States, has seen a clear visit boost since the easing of pandemic-related restrictions last summer. The brand has opened new stores at a record pace, which is feeding an impressive year-over-two-year (Yo2Y) foot traffic surge: visits in December, January, and February have been up 16.1%, 11.1%, and 7.5%, respectively, compared to the same month two months prior. 

Even more impressive is the brand’s Yo2Y increase in visits per venue. Except for September ‘21, at the height of the Delta wave, monthly average visits per venue were up every month since July, with December, January, and February’s Yo2Y average visits per venue up 11.4%, 6.7%, and 3.8%, respectively. This means that the brand’s stores are now more crowded than they were two years ago, even as Ulta’s store fleet continues to grow.

And Ulta is succeeding in maintaining loyalty levels steady even as it grows its consumer base. Since Q4 2018, loyal visitors to Ulta – the share of Ulta visitors that visited the brand at least twice during the quarter – increased from 29.3% in Q4 2018, to 30.2% in Q4 2019, to 30.6% in Q4 2021. So although Ulta offers several different channels, including a growing number of Ulta at Target shop-in-shops and the brand’s online platform, customers are still visiting the stand alone Ulta brick and mortar stores. 

The rise in loyalty numbers and increase in visits per venue offer a promising sign that the year ahead has even more growth in store for Ulta. 

Bath & Body Works

Bath & Body Works’ wide assortment of scented soaps and hand sanitizers helped the brand thrive during the early COVID days, and the company has been keeping the momentum going. The brand separated from Victoria’s Secret in August following L Brands’ split. Since the split, Bath & Body Works’ Yo2Y visits have been up every month. 

Indeed, recent foot traffic data indicates that the brand is not slowing down in the new year. January and February visits were up 7.7% and 5.9%, respectively, compared to the same months in 2020. 

The retailer intends on opening more stores in 2022 and plans on relaunching its aromatherapy collection with improved formulas free of sulfates, parabens, or dyes. This should cater to the rising consumer demand for “clean” wellness products. All in all, Bath & Body Works appears positioned to continue thriving in 2022. 

Sephora 

Sephora has been making some dramatic changes to its store fleet, with the aim of making the brand “more accessible to beauty shoppers across the country,” according to a 2021 release by the brand. These changes include growing its off-mall presence in regions such as the Pacific Northwest and states such as Florida and Texas, and opening Sephora shop-in-shops at 200 Kohl’s stores. This past February, Kohl’s announced the expansion of the partnership and the addition of 400 Sephora at Kohl’s locations, bringing the total to 600 and putting the partnership on track to meet its 850 store goal by 2023. 

We have covered the Kohl’s-Sephora partnership extensively in the past, so we took this opportunity to dive into some of Sephora’s top performing venues to better understand what characterizes these locations. 

The Sephora stores in Colorado Springs, CO; Corte Madera, CA; Germantown, TN; and Atlanta, GA, have seen Yo2Y growth in visits every month since July. What do these four venues have in common?  

The chart on the left compares the trade areas for the four Sephora locations during the period between July and December 2021 with the period between July to December 2019. This comparison shows that all four overperforming Sephora properties have seen an increase in their trade area, meaning that these venues have succeeded in attracting shoppers from further away, which has led to an increase in overall visits. 

The chart on the right compares cross-shopping trends between 2019 and 2021. The data shows that cross-shopping with Ulta – meaning the share of Sephora customers who also shop at Ulta – increased for all four locations. This indicates that Ulta’s success does not necessarily need to come at the expense of Sephora – the current demand for beauty and wellness products seems large enough to benefit all players in the space. 

For more up to date data-driven retail insights, visit our blog

Get 3 brand & industry
breakdowns every week

Subscribe to the newsletter

Great! Prepare your inbox for data-driven insights...
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Get a Demo

Please enter your first name
Please enter your last name
Please provide a valid email
Please enter your email
Please enter company name

Thanks for reaching out!

One of our experts will be in touch soon

Try Placer.ai Free
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
The CAVA Craze: A Location Intelligence Perspective on the Mediterranean Marvel
How Will Primark’s US Expansion Impact Target?
All Eyes on Eyewear
Northwestern U.S. Grocery Dive
Return of the Lunch: Salad Chains Are Thriving
Retail Media Networks – Off the Beaten Track
Bet Your Bottom Dollar: Discount and Dollar Stores Drive Foot Traffic
Ulta & Lululemon: Discretionary Spending On The Up
The Score After Q1: Sporting Goods Chains
Who Uses NYC Airports: Biting Into The Big Apple’s Main Transport Hubs
Off Price: Strength in The Face of Retail Challenges
Visits Improve for Home Improvement
Walmart, Target & Wholesalers in Q1 2023 – The Return of Mission-Driven Shopping?
Department Store Roundup: Q1 2023
Placer.ai Office Index: April 2023 Recap
Placer.ai Mall Index, April 2023 – A Rebound on the Horizon?
How Will Bed Bath & Beyond’s Bankruptcy Impact the Retail Space?
Buffet Restaurants: Filling Up on Foot Traffic
Thrift Stores: Vintage Visits Drive New Age in Apparel
The Windy City: A Hub of Post-Pandemic Opportunity
Diving into Dining Traffic - Q1 2023
Bring On The Joe
A Dollar (or more) For Your Thoughts: Five Below and pOpshelf
Dining Out With The Cheesecake Factory
Retail Foot Traffic Recap – March 2023
Digging Into 2023: McDonald’s and Chipotle Update
Placer.ai Office Index: March 2023 Recap
How Did Key Retail Categories Perform in Q1 2023?
Northeastern USA Grocery Dive
Movie Theaters Storylines for 2023
Ollie's Bargain Outlet: Discounters are Evolving
Leveraging Brick-and-Mortar Retail in 2023
America’s Evolving Work Patterns: A Deep-Dive into New York and Chicago
Placer.ai Mall Index March 2023
Tuning Into Record Stores
Five Franchises To Watch in 2023
What’s Next For Domestic Tourism?
It’s Showtime! Movie Theaters in the Spotlight
5 Limited Time Offers (LTOs) Driving Restaurant Traffic
Department Store Deep-Dive: Belk
Regional Grocery Chains Staying Ahead of the Competition
Five Chains that Rightsized for Success
Unlocking the Potential of Offline Retail Media Networks
Dining Out With Darden
What’s in Store for Self-Storage?
Nike & lululemon Update: Strong Performance Amid Expansion Plans
Many Ways to Win: Midwest Grocery Deep Dive
Retail, Reinvented: The Rise of the Pop-Up Shop
Navigating a New Normal in Business Travel & Commutes
Placer.ai Office Index: February 2023 Recap
Retail Categories Staying Strong in Volatile Environment
Ulta Beauty: Poised for Success into 2023
Placer.ai Mall Index February 2023: Reasons for Continued Optimism
Catching Up With DICK’s & Hibbett
The Miami-Dade Arena: An Advertising Slam Dunk
Car Washes Revving Up Visits
Tuesday Morning and Sunrises in Home Furnishing
Dining & Valentine’s Day Recap
2023: The Year of the Discount Store
Aldi’s Success Highlights Growing Demand for Value Groceries
5 Retail & Service Categories Holding onto Pandemic Gains in 2023
Visitor Insights from Super Bowl 2023
2023 First Look: Home Improvement Update
How Are Target, Walmart, and Wholesale Clubs Faring in 2023?
Department Store Deep-Dive: Nordstrom
Off-Price: Taking Off in Uncertain Times
Checking in On Middle-Class Hubs
Who Attends the Super Bowl?
Placer.ai Office Index: January 2023 Recap
Focusing On Fitness: Q4 and January Recap
Placer.ai Mall Index: January 2023 – Returning Mall Normalcy?
Location Intelligence Insights Into Concert Attendance
Winning Dining Strategies for 2023
In-N-Out Burger: What to Expect as the Brand Moves East
Location Intelligence Breakdown: Coffee Caps-Off 2022
Digitally Native Brands Lean Into Brick & Mortar
Washington, D.C. Population Changes & Migration Trends
A Location Intelligence Perspective on Macy’s Rightsizing
Amazon-Powered Shopping: The Future of Brick-and-Mortar Grocery?
Cold Weather, Hot Visits: Diving into Winter Resorts
Wawa and 7-Eleven: Leaning Into the “Slurpee Effect”
2022 and Beyond: Catching Up With McDonald’s & Chipotle
Let’s Have Some Fun! Going Out Is In
Placer.ai’s Q4 2022 Quarterly Index
Placer.ai Adds Industry Executives to Leadership Team To Drive Company's Next Phase of Growth
5 Emerging Retail Formats: 2023’s Brick-and-Mortar Evolution
Grocery Update: Zooming in on the Lone Star State
2022 Office Recap: The Year of the TGIF Work Week
What Lies Ahead for Brick-and-Mortar Luxury in 2023
Placer.ai Mall Indexes: December 2022 Recap
Looking Back on 2022’s Holiday Shopping Season
Post-Pandemic Migration Trends in New York
Top Retailers for 2023
The Live Sports Advertising Opportunity
Domestic Migration to the Mountain States: Small Shifts with Big Implications
New Year, New Food: 5 Dining Trends For 2023
Announcing Placer.ai’s COVID RECOVERY DASHBOARD
This is Why Shop-in-Shops Are Everywhere
Super Saturday 2022 Recap
The San Francisco Shift