What You Need to Know
Ulta Beauty World returned for its second year, this time at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The event gave each of its 3,000 attendees a $2,000 swag bag filled with free products from more than 200 brand booths, which included experiences like Too Faced’s chocolate-scented bakery and Maybelline’s New York City hot dog cart. Tickets sold out in just 71 minutes, even though Ulta doubled the number available from its debut event in San Antonio last year. Around 3 million people tried to get tickets.
The event grew out of Ulta Beauty’s internal Field Leadership Conference and is now a core part of the retailer’s brand-building strategy. Brands use the expo to connect directly with shoppers, tell their stories and build loyalty outside of a traditional retail setting. Ulta Beauty CMO Kelly Mahoney said the event is part of a broader push to position Ulta as a place where brands can launch, grow and scale. The retailer also has 140,000 in-store events planned for this year, up from 110,000 last year.
