Based in Chicago, ULTA was founded in 1990 as a new and different way for women to shop for beauty products by combining a salon, department store and retail store under one roof. ULTA started its e-commerce site as a way to provide 24/7 service, in 2000.
Today, the company has more than 165 stores throughout the US, a number which is expected to grow to 200 by year-end. Also expected to grow is the company's online operations, which currently account for a small portion of its business.
The company began working with SLI Systems last fall in order to overhaul its existing site search functionality, which was drawing complaints from users on a regular basis, according to Director of E-commerce Kevin Metz.
ULTA is the ultimate beauty site featuring over 9,000 products ranging from cosmetics to fragrances, appliances, hair care, and skin care. The one-stop beauty site is the essential destination to find over 400 brands including Bourjois, Ralph Lauren, Urban Decay, Calvin Klein, Too Faced, Armani, Sugar Baby, Revlon, and ULTA's own ever-expanding private label brand. ULTA stores have additional brands including Bare Escentuals, Prada, Chanel, Redken and more.