How Ulta Beauty and Adobe are driving real-time personalization in the beauty industry.
To keep up with the fast-paced digital landscape, Ulta Beauty set its sights on transforming the way it connects with customers and the broader beauty community. Recognizing the power of seamless, personalized experiences, the nation’s largest specialty beauty retailer turned to Adobe as its trusted partner to elevate its digital capabilities and deepen every touchpoint with customers. Ulta Beauty recently selected Adobe for its unmatched integrated platform and reputation as a world-class technology partner.
Ulta Beauty understands that purchasing beauty products, whether in-store or online, is a personal and emotional journey for each customer. This understanding underpins the company’s mission to create a personalized, inclusive, and powerful beauty experience, setting a high standard in the ever-evolving industry.
“Our insights show that beauty is deeply personal and is intrinsically connected to emotional and physical well-being, so we recognize the importance of delivering the most personalized experience for each of our guests based on a deep understanding of their preferences at an individual level. With Adobe as our partner, we’re tapping into data and insights from our more than 44 million loyalty members to deliver personalized experiences at scale. Our goal is to create joyful, meaningful interactions at every step — interactions that inspire brand love and keep our customers coming back.”
— Kelly Mahoney, SVP of Customer Marketing, Ulta Beauty
Since 2021, Ulta Beauty has used Adobe Analytics and Workfront. The company recently expanded its collaboration with Adobe by adopting Adobe Real-Time Customer Data Platform (CDP), Adobe Journey Optimizer, and Adobe Customer Journey Analytics. This investment seeks to transform Ulta Beauty’s customer experience, to deliver highly personalized interactions at scale across every channel and build meaningful brand loyalty.
Taking the Ulta Beauty Loyalty Program to new heights with Adobe Real-Time CDP.
“Ulta Beauty's loyalty program“ is a key driver of winning customers’ hearts and is responsible for approximately 95% of the company’s sales. With more than 44 million loyalty members, Ulta Beauty has the richest dataset in all of beauty, uniquely positioning the company to deliver personalized products and experiences.
To more effectively leverage loyalty program data to better understand loyalty members’ unique preferences, Ulta Beauty implemented Adobe Real-Time CDP in record deployment time for the company — just four months. Real-Time CDP will enrich how Ulta Beauty utilizes loyalty program data, bringing more flexibility and efficiency to data management and enabling more detailed and accurate customer audience segmentation.
Audience strategy powered by Real-Time CDP will “help accelerate Ulta Beauty's goal“ to deepen customer loyalty through automated, personalized content in real time across channels. Whether guests are shopping on the Ulta Beauty homepage, browsing Instagram, using the app, or visiting a store, this technology ensures a seamless, tailored omnichannel experience that meets customers where they are and enhances their overall satisfaction.
Real-Time CDP works by instantly gathering and updating customer profiles the moment customers interact with Ulta Beauty — whether they’re making a purchase, browsing products, or adding items to their cart. These real-time capabilities allow Ulta Beauty to respond immediately to customer needs, offering personalized recommendations, targeted promotions, and content tailored to their preferences. For example, a guest might receive a timely offer on their favorite brand or a suggestion for a new product they’re sure to love.
“While both ecommerce and our fleet of more than 1,400 stores play an important role in our guests’ shopping experience, we know digital channels are increasingly important for discovering and learning about new beauty products, which is why we’re focused on making personalization even stronger across all our digital channels. With Adobe Real-Time CDP, our goal is to inspire our guests with tailored digital content and product recommendations that truly resonate.”
— Josh Friedman, VP of Digital Products, Ulta Beauty
As shopper behavior evolves, using loyalty program data with Real-Time CDP will help Ulta Beauty stay tuned in to customers’ unique needs and preferences, ensuring they feel the customized and tailored omnichannel experience throughout the purchase journey, when shopping online, with a mobile device, or in-store.
https://video.tv.adobe.com/v/3441737
At the National Retail Federation Big Show 2025, Josh Friedman, VP of digital products at Ulta Beauty, joins Olivia Kwon-Best, digital strategy group GM for retail and consumer goods at Adobe, for a moderated fireside conversation with Sucharita Kodali, VP and Principal Analyst at Forrester. Together, they will share more about how Ulta Beauty’s partnership with Adobe is advancing the company’s industry-leading vision for customer personalization.
Marta Frattini is the director of industry strategy and marketing for retail for the Adobe digital strategy group (DSG). She works as a passionate thought leader to unlock experience-driven growth for Adobe retail clients.
Frattini has spent over 15 years in marketing and digital innovation, and has spearheaded successful digital transformation and personalization programs for major global retailers. Frattini has a strong understanding of the strategies, tactics, and technologies required to execute digital excellence at scale, and brings a global perspective shaped by personal and professional experiences across North America and EMEA.
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