Ulta Beauty’s Uber Eats deal shows delivery is now retail standard

Ulta Beauty put more than 1,500 stores on Uber Eats, giving shoppers access to more than 600 brands and thousands of items, from makeup and skincare to fragrance, tools and devices. The deal extends Ulta’s delivery mix beyond its earlier partnerships with DoorDash and Instacart, and it shows how quickly fast delivery has moved from a novelty to a standard part of retail competition.

The rollout matters because it is not limited to emergency purchases. Uber said the service covers beauty, wellness and self-care essentials and supports both on-demand and scheduled delivery, which means the channel is built for routine restocking as well as last-minute gifts. Jodi Williams, Ulta Beauty’s vice president of eCommerce, said the partnership extends Ulta’s omnichannel experience. Hashim Amin, Uber’s North America grocery and retail head, framed the move as a way to make beauty shopping easier for last-minute gifts and regular restocking.

Ulta had already been building that habit with other delivery platforms. It started same-day delivery with DoorDash in November 2021 from select stores in cities including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston and Boise, then expanded the relationship. In January 2025, Ulta and Instacart announced same-day delivery in as little as one hour from more than 1,400 stores, with loyalty points available on those orders. Ulta said at the time that the Instacart relationship complemented DoorDash and helped it reach new guests through Instacart’s user base.

For Big Lots workers, the bigger lesson is not beauty itself. It is the growing expectation that a retailer can turn a store into a fulfillment point fast enough to satisfy same-day demand. Big Lots began offering same-day delivery through Instacart in June 2020 from nearly 1,400 stores in 47 states, showing it understood the appeal of convenience early. But the company’s position changed sharply after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 9, 2024, then announced waves of store closings and moved toward liquidation after restructuring plans failed later that year.

That makes the Ulta move a useful comparison for anyone watching store operations. Delivery partnerships can create new sales and help retailers reach shoppers who want speed, but they also increase pressure on store teams to keep inventory accurate, pick items correctly, stage them quickly and make sure products arrive in clean condition. In value retail, where every sale has to work harder on margin, the winners are likely to be the chains that can make delivery feel easy without turning the store floor into a constant scramble.