When it comes to sales, there’s a common saying: “Go where the people are.”
That appears to be what Ulta Beauty is doing after launching on TikTok Shop on March 17, making it the first specialty beauty retailer in the country to launch on a platform where scrolling and discovering new products is encouraged. If you’ve ever scrolled through a TikTok video and wondered what foundation that person uses, you can scroll through Ulta within the app and buy it for yourself.
The move to Ulta’s platform comes as retailers rethink what a retail front door truly is. It also comes after a landmark agreement with the Trump administration stabilized TikTok’s commercial future in the United States.
The reason behind Ulta’s launch is as political as it is commercial. The Trump administration reportedly finalized an agreement earlier this month that would allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States in exchange for a reported $10 billion in brokerage fees to the U.S. government. new york times. Investors including Oracle, Emirati investment firm MGX and Silver Lake (each with a 15% stake in the company) will pay the US government $10 billion in brokerage fees for the deal, of which $2.5 billion was already paid in January. The deal comes as a solution to long-standing national security concerns over the app’s Chinese parent company ByteDance, effectively resolving the uncertainty that has plagued TikTok since 2020 and giving brands and retailers a clearer path to invest in the platform’s commerce capabilities. Ulta announced the expansion of its TikTok integration just days after the terms of the deal were finalized.
go where the audience is
TikTok isn’t just a place where brands are trying to build an audience; it’s a place where a historic audience is already shopping. It’s also where new possibilities are emerging in the consumer space, including the ability to enhance shopping with AI.
“We’re excited about the opportunity to bring the unmistakable Ulta Beauty experience and assortment to life across both our social and AI-enhanced commerce platforms,” said Kecia Steelman, CEO of Ulta Beauty, during the company’s Q4 2025 earnings call. “We will initially launch with a carefully curated selection of Ulta-exclusive brands, which will add another exciting tool to our brand-building strategy.”
It’s unclear how AI-powered commerce platforms will work. But Ulta’s approach to TikTok is part of an overarching recognition by the beauty retailer that “we’re seeing firsthand how discovery is happening everywhere today, and social platforms are playing an increasingly influential role in how guests engage with brands,” said Lauren Brindley, chief merchandising and digital officer at Ulta Beauty. luck In a statement.
“Our partnership with TikTok Shop is a strategic and complementary extension of our discovery ecosystem,” she added. “This allows us to discover inspiring moments for our guests, reduces friction between content and commerce, and welcomes new Ulta Beauty shoppers into our community to drive incremental growth.”
Steelman made similar comments during the earnings call, adding that the company is meeting users where they are. The TikTok Shop is “a place where guests can shop instantly while engaging with content from Ulta Beauty and our brands on the platform.”
The data backs her up. According to data shared directly from TikTok, TikTok Shop recorded more than 103 billion searches in the U.S. for e-commerce purposes in 2025, with total transaction volume on the platform increasing by nearly 80% year-over-year. modern retail. There are now 71.4 million active social shoppers on TikTok in the U.S. alone, a 24.5% increase from 2024, and 45.5% of all TikTok users in the U.S. engage in at least one social commerce transaction
The company has expanded its use of generative AI, including agent AI tools and its internal AI Center of Excellence, to personalize marketing across its 46 million loyalty members. In that context, the launch of TikTok Shop is the consumer-facing result of years of backend transformation.
This also lines up with one of Ulta’s strongest recent quarters, with sales of $3.9 billion in Q4 2025, an 11.8% year-over-year increase and a 5.8% increase in comparable sales. Steelman, who took over as CEO in January 2025 after 11 years at the company, was clear about the change in direction.
“We had to take back our arrogance,” she said. “I felt like we lost a little bit of our arrogance, and I feel like we’ve got our arrogance back.”
But some are wary of praising the partnership, fearing what has happened time and time again to self-conscious users, mostly minors, on the social media platform. Dr. Kathleen Suozzi, a dermatologist at Yale University who studies the skin care routines and shopping habits of children and teens influenced by social media, questioned whether “this strategy takes advantage of the impulsivity” of younger generations, especially given her work “looking at behavioral patterns in teens and teens when it comes to skin care.”
“I think this is really targeting teens and tweens in a big way,” Suozzi said. luck, He also added that because TikTok Shop is all done within the app, it’s easy for all users, regardless of age, to make impulse purchases.
“We see everything related to social media and children. It’s this idea, this false idea of perfectionism, this representation of what skin should be, and chasing an ideal of beauty that isn’t realistic or appropriate,” she added. “That’s exactly what this is affecting.”
Suozzi said that unsophisticated users may not be able to tell what is a sponsored ad, compared to regular users of the app who do not modify their appearance. “Comparing your skin to influencers with filters and lighting and the pressure to follow multi-step routines has led to increased anxiety about your appearance and compulsive use of products. And that’s what this integrated platform is further stimulating. When you see something, you instantly want it and buy it.”
Beauty’s broader bet on TikTok
Ulta isn’t the only company recognizing TikTok’s impact on the beauty industry. TikTok Shop doesn’t have an official store, but Sephora previously partnered with the platform to pioneer its Creator Program, which connects emerging brands and content creators in its Accelerate incubator.
The launch of Ulta’s TikTok Shop takes that belief even further, turning discovery into a direct buying moment rather than a brand-building exercise. Ajay Sarpekar, head of beauty at TikTok Shop, said the partnership is additive rather than disruptive.
“TikTok is a place where culture, commerce and discovery seamlessly come together, so it makes sense for retailers and brands to become part of our ecosystem,” Sarpekar said. luck In a statement. “For Ulta Beauty, TikTok Shop provides the power of discovery, helping us reach new shoppers for limited-edition releases and support scale and growth for brands entering new markets.”
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