Will The New Ulta Beauty Marketplace Cook?
There are some categories that are just harder to do with marketplaces - beauty, toys, luxury, baby come to mind. Doesn't mean it doesn't happen, but the risks are higher. Anything you put in or on your body or give to your kids has a much higher standard than your normal marketplace item.
However the promise is still real:
* increased assortment (over 100 new brands)
* fresher items
* more sales
Likely this also focuses on range expansion from existing brands too.
This is the lens I look through when I think about what Ulta Beauty is doing in its new UB Marketplace. Right near the top of the press release, safety is paramount.
The first element of ensuring safety is gating the marketplace, which is mentioned in the release.
"Thoughtfully curated" and "marketplace" don't always go together to create business impact (due to scale) but we will see how this plays out over time. Sometimes these things work out, and sometimes, well... companies lose focus on their curated marketplace (Target+ I am still looking at you).
Vertical marketplaces have huge advantages in that they can promise deep assortment and benefits to buyers who are often looking for freshness. The theory of greater assortment that is easier to add than a typical item you need to allocate cash to is also seductive. Expect to see more continue to test this approach and use it as the foundation of future digital revenue streams.
