Ulta Beauty adds Bath & Body Works as retailers pursue renewed growth

Bath & Body Works has partnered with Ulta Beauty, making a curated assortment of its body care and home fragrance products available to Ulta shoppers across the US. The move aligns with both retailers’ respective turnaround strategies, as they look to expand partnerships and reach. 

The deal grants Bath & Body Works access to Ulta’s expansive customer base. Ulta, on the other hand, gets to expand its cosmetics-forward offerings with new additions across home fragrances, hand soaps, and affordable body care.

“We see a meaningful whitespace opportunity to better serve guests across high-quality home fragrance, hand soaps, lotions, and body care categories,” says Lauren Brindley, chief merchandising and digital officer at Ulta Beauty.

While Bath & Body Works started strictly as a specialty retailer selling only in its own stores, the expansion reflects the company’s efforts to transition into a global consumer brand.

“This strategic partnership introduces our brand to new, highly engaged consumers who love to discover and explore, with a curated selection of thoughtfully crafted scents that showcase our fragrance leadership,” explains Maly Bernstein, chief commercial officer at Bath & Body Works.

Turnaround plans

For Bath & Body Works, the partnership forms as part of its Consumer First Formula, which aims to revitalize the brand, refocus on core categories, and make the overall shopping experience less overwhelming for its consumers. 

The tailored assortment includes select fine fragrance mists, body creams, hand soaps, three-wick candles, and wallflowers.Its entry into select Ulta Beauty locations falls under the Winning the Marketplace pillar of its turnaround plan. Bath & Body Works says it wants to make product discovery more effortless and meet shoppers where they are. The company has already expanded its assortment of fragrance and body products into new channels, such as Amazon, and Ulta now marks the latest.

The partnership also aligns with Ulta’s Beauty Unleashed plan. Its main objective is to reclaim market share and drive sustainable revenue growth, and the Bath & Body Works deal taps into the Core Business Optimization pillar of the plan.

Ulta hopes to improve its in-store execution, and as part of that, heavily emphasizes securing exclusive partnerships to differentiate its product offerings. 

“This launch expands our assortment into incremental categories our guests are excited to discover and reinforces Ulta Beauty as a destination for accessible, elevated beauty and self-care experiences,” says Ulta’s Brindley.

Ulta has been adding a slew of new products to its shelves, including K-beauty and C-beauty brands, hoping to attract a wider consumer base. The retailer’s Q1 report says it added 93 new brands in just one quarter, and the body care category was highlighted as a key growth engine. 

Bath & Body Works will be available in over 600 Ulta brick-and-mortar locations, as well as the online store. Its Juniper Breeze fragrance will also make an exclusive return to Ulta stores.