In this episode of the Ecommerce Brain Trust, Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplaces Services at Acadia, and Damiano Ciarrocchi, the Senior Retail Media Manager at Acadia and Head of the Retail Media Network Innovation team. They discuss the ins and outs of Ulta's retail media platform and what brands need to know to succeed in this unique beauty-focused marketplace.

Make sure you tune in to find out more!

In this episode, Julie and Damiano discuss: 

• An overview of Ulta as a retail media marketplace dedicated to beauty products with both in-store and e-commerce presences.

• The relative youth of Ulta’s platform compared to other marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart.

• Challenges faced by brands, such as limited tools provided by Ulta for keyword research and competitive landscape analysis.

• How brands can circumvent these limitations using third-party tools like Pacvue and Analytic Index.

• Media Buying Strategies on Ulta

• Options for buying media on Ulta, including self-service and managed services.

• The partnership between Ulta and Criteo, including the campaign types available to advertisers.

• Performance and Competition on Ulta

• The current landscape shows low competition and promising results for brands advertising on Ulta.

• How brands are achieving top-of-search positioning relatively easily compared to more saturated platforms.

• Investment and Attribution in Ulta Advertising

• Discussing meaningful media investment and attribution assessment on the Ulta channel

• How to handle the complexities of advertising for a brand that has both an e-commerce and in-store presence

• Ideal Candidates for Advertising on Ulta

• Characteristics of brands that may benefit the most from advertising on Ulta.

• Advising brands that should hold off on expanding to Ulta and the recommended trial period for testing the platform's effectiveness.

• Damiano shares valuable insights on leveraging Ulta as a retail media network and the intricacies involved, offering a comprehensive look at what role this unique channel could play in a brand’s broader e-commerce strategy.