Here’s How Much Ulta Beauty Is Spending On More Inclusive Products And Advertising

Ulta Beauty will be making some big strides when it comes to having more inclusive advertising and products on store shelves that will reach more women, and they plan to spend a significant amount of money in order to accomplish their goals.

The company announced an initiative to not only double the number of products from Black-owned brands in its stores by the end of 2021, but they will also be featuring more Black women in their ads and step up their efforts with employee training for more diversity. They will spend more than $25 million toward the initiative, CNBC reports.

Of the efforts, the company said $20 million would go towards media investments aimed at reaching Black and Hispanic communities, while $4 million will help in fueling the growth and marketing of their Black-owned brands. The remaining $2 million would be put towards quarterly in-store employee training which will be made mandatory and help fight unconscious bias. A Diverse Leaders Program will also be put into place to help offer more executive mentorship and positions to employees who show leadership potential.

The company has also brought on Tracee Ellis Ross, who owns hair-care brand Pattern Beauty, to also help them with counsel and hold them accountable for their efforts as a diversity and inclusion advisor.

Their main competitor, Sephora, previously announced their own plans to double their number of Black-owned brands and products and reduce the presence of third-party security, in January. The company also signed the 15 Percent Pledge, which aims to have retailers make 15% of their products from Black-owned businesses. Retailers who have already signed the pledge include Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Blue Mercury, West Elm, Madewell, Crate & Barrel, Athleta, Banana Republic, Gap and Old Navy.

The diversity initiative follows a move by Ulta in November 2020, where they partnered with Target stores to roll out an Ulta Shop-in-shop concept in more than 100 stores through the second half of 2021, which offers access to more brands in Target’s own beauty sections. Target will also provide free shipping on qualifying online orders of the products, as well as Drive-Up, Order Pickup and Shipt same-day delivery services as well on the products. It’s unclear if the diversity initiative will be factored into this expansion.

Sephora also announced a partnership for 2021, with plans to expand its products in Kohl's stores, after reducing its footprint in JCPenney stores, with the company closing stores due to financial struggles.