Retail giant Target is collaborating with Ulta Beauty in a strategic partnership that will bring a shop-in-shop concept to 100 Target locations across the country, the companies announced in a press release on Tuesday (Nov. 10).
“The durable strategy we have built has made Target a top retail destination,” Target Chairman and CEO Brian Cornell said in the announcement. With the Ulta Beauty partnership, he said, “we are able to expand our growing beauty business with new, exciting brands, an immersive experience, and loyalty benefits to transform how our guests shop for all their beauty needs.”
The shop-in-shop concept will bring expanded merchandise to Target customers online and in some stores at the start of 2021. Target and Ulta Beauty said that as trusted retailers with omnichannel outreach and a speciality in curation, they are aiming to forge a new way for people to gain exposure and access to different and emerging brands.
“Ulta Beauty at Target reflects further evolution in our omnichannel strategy, rooted in unlocking the potential of our physical and digital footprints, creating more seamless shopping opportunities for our loyal guests and continuing to lead the beauty industry. More than ever before, now is the time for innovation in retail,” said Ulta Beauty CEO Mary Dillon.
She added that Target “shares our company values” and said Ulta Beauty looks forward to delivering “our beauty expertise, unparalleled assortment and digital innovation” to an expanded customer base.
The shop-in-shop is expected to offer Ulta Beauty’s virtual try-on tool GLAMLab, and will have newly-trained associates with beauty expertise.
As the coronavirus pandemic took hold, Ulta Beauty had to lay off numerous staff members as stores closed and sales shifted online. Distribution center workers were given a $2 per hour wage hike and its CEO stopped collecting a salary. Overall, worker furloughs in the retail industry topped 1 million by mid-April.
Target said its holiday hiring this year was focusing on fulfilling digital demand, reflecting the new reality of shopping amid COVID-19.
In October, Target introduced new measures aimed at reducing in-store gridlock for holiday shoppers — shopping reservations, in-store check-out reservations, employees using handheld checkout devices and more.