What: Big box retailers move in on the democratization of beauty.

Why it is important: As department stores invest in renovating their beauty floors, consumer spending habits shift again as big box retailers and drugstores strategize on becoming the new key locations for discovering new beauty brands and products.

Department stores lost their dominance in the prestige beauty market as Sephora and Ulta expanded their offerings and gained more relevance to the consumer. However, big-box retailers and drugstores are now seeing an opportunity to profit from the beauty industry’s democratization, with thousands of stores and plenty of space to house products, they too can be a place of discovery.

In beauty, it all comes down to where discovery actually takes place. Sephora in the past held great legitimacy for carrying unknown lines. As these products gained more than niche popularity, they trickled down to Ulta and then into the wider market but had rarely reached drugstores. Now, the consumer is less inclined to prioritize where they purchase those products. The mixing of high and low-priced items and dispelling the mindset that expensive means “better” made brands more willing to widen their distribution to mass channels.

Target has made the biggest inroads so far, after opening about 100 Ulta Target shop-in-shops last year with plans to open around 250 more in 2022.

Beauty buying habits change again