Observed Signal · Feb 24, 2026 · Partnership · Source: Adweek · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Ulta Beauty Leverages AI for Unmatched Customer Loyalty
At CES 2026 Ulta Beauty CMO Kelly Mahoney described how the company's Ulta Beauty Rewards loyalty program and AI-powered personalization engine underpin most of its sales and customer relevance. Ulta leverages first-party data from 46+ million Rewards members (who drive roughly 95% of sales) to enable motivation-based segmentation, omnichannel journeys, and real-time personalization across discovery, replenishment, and creative. Ulta is expanding internationally (UK, Mexico, Kuwait, UAE) and has developed Wellness by Ulta Beauty as part of its beauty–wellness strategy. Mahoney highlighted technology partners and tools — notably an Adobe Customer Data Platform and Adobe Firefly creative automation — as enablers of scalable marketing and content production.
Shows a major retailer scaling AI-driven personalization and loyalty as a core commerce and marketing engine, illustrating real-world use of CDP + creative automation and retail media — relevant to MarTech and retail media strategies.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Ulta Beauty presented strategy at CES 2026 and featured a conversation on The Speed of Culture podcast.
- Kelly Mahoney is Chief Marketing Officer at Ulta Beauty and has overseen personalization and Rewards expansion.
- Ulta Beauty Rewards has more than 46 million members who generate roughly 95% of Ulta’s sales.
- Ulta uses an Adobe Customer Data Platform (CDP) and Adobe Firefly creative automation to support personalization and content production at scale.
- Ulta has expanded globally into the UK, Mexico, Kuwait, and the UAE and launched Wellness by Ulta Beauty (expanded from 2021 initiative).
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Ulta: AI Supercharges Rewards, Driving 95% of Sales
Ulta Beauty's chief marketing officer Kelly Mahoney says AI-powered personalization applied to the company's Ulta Rewards program is now driving about 95% of the retailer's sales. Ulta has 46.7 million Ulta Rewards members whose first-party data the company leverages for personalized emails, in-app offers and targeted digital ads featuring brand partners such as Fenty. Mahoney, who joined Ulta in 2015, has led a multi-year investment in shopper data and personalization. The comments were made in an Adweek 'Five Minutes With' profile published May 5, 2026 and emphasize Ulta's use of first-party data and AI to unlock personalization at scale and influence commerce outcomes.
Ulta chief marketer on brand-building and omnichannel strategy
Ulta Beauty’s chief marketer Kelly Mahoney outlines how the retailer combines brand-building, first‑party data and omnichannel tactics to drive growth. Ulta reported Q1 net sales up 11.1% to $3.2 billion and attributes part of the performance to marketing initiatives. Mahoney emphasizes leveraging the Ulta Beauty Rewards loyalty program (nearly 47 million members), a proprietary 'Beauty Graph' for personalized insights, and UB Media to deliver targeted retail-media campaigns. The company is using TikTok Shop for guest acquisition, building year‑long creator partnerships through the Ulta Beauty Collective, staging experiential in‑store events and partnering with IP holders (DC Studios/Warner Bros. Pictures on a 'Supergirl' collaboration). Mahoney frames cultural partnerships, retail media and creator-driven discovery as complementary levers in an omnichannel marketing playbook.
Retailers Reframe Omnichannel Around AI and Loyalty
Executives from Ulta Beauty, Stitch Fix, Tapestry and others discussed how omnichannel retail is evolving with artificial intelligence at a CommerceNext panel on June 24, 2026. Panelists said AI and agentic platforms (ChatGPT, Gemini and other assistants) are shifting discovery away from brand-name queries, requiring consistent brand identity across touchpoints. Retailers highlighted that loyalty programs and in-store/in-app experiences remain central — Ulta reported 47 million loyalty members and that 95% of its sales occur through the loyalty program — and that AI can be used to personalize experiences, improve content and scale store-concierge interactions when trained on associate-customer conversations. Panelists also shared operational data: Boot Barn reported high in-store pickup and ship-from-store percentages, and Stitch Fix said roughly 60% of clients use its app regularly.
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