Embracing Multiculturalism, Ulta Beauty Plans To Expand Into Black Market

Ulta Beauty, a well-known American cosmetics and fragrance retail company, announced a new plan on Tuesday to expand product categories and marketing features in order to better reflect the cultural diversity of the United States. Ulta is prepared to invest more than $25 million in the program.

Specific elements of Ulta’s new plan include doubling the number of black brands launched by the end of 2021, strengthening employee training to enable stores to provide high-quality service to all customers, and investing approximately $20 million in cross-cultural platforms. Media investments are being made to reach black and Hispanic communities, producing TV ads featuring black women, and more.

To better realize this vision, Ulta has also hired Tracee Ellis Ross, an actress and founder and CEO of hair care brand Pattern Beauty, as the company’s diversity and inclusion advisor.

Ulta's beauty industry peer, LVMH-owned Sephora, announced a similar plan in mid-January this year. Companies such as Macy's and Gap have also signed a "15% Pledge," which aims to keep Black-only products on shelves in proportion to the Black population in the United States.

Over the past year, many companies have reflected on their business practices, including whether they support or combat growing racism in processes such as recruiting employees, choosing models for advertising, and selecting products to display. Protests such as the George Floyd incident and Black Lives Matter in the United States have also further pushed entrepreneurs to make more commitments to address racial inequality.

Ulta CEO Mary Dillon believes that the beauty industry should set an example, after all, it can shape society’s perception of beauty to a certain extent. In addition, from the perspective of the company itself, given that more than 50% of babies born in the United States are of non-Caucasian race, the number of black customers in the future will definitely be greater than now. Companies must see this trend in advance and proactively adapt to the environment of the times.

Mary Dillon also said that this is not only an opportunity for companies, but also an obligation that they should be aware of. Trying to meet the needs of consumers of any age, race, and color is the core of Ulta's business.

In addition to companies themselves, consumers are also paying more and more attention to the social value of companies, such as whether they adopt sustainable development strategies and whether they promote multiculturalism and abandon racism.

And there is a very straightforward truth: consumers will "vote with their money," and this is closely related to the operation and survival of enterprises. Therefore, sellers must also realize that making efforts on the diversity and inclusion of products and brands has become a top priority for companies today and is by no means just a goodwill gesture.