How to Build a Beauty Store App Like Ulta Beauty?

Makeup brings confidence in women and defines their features to conquer the world. Considering that makeup revolutionizes women’s lives, it also changes the economy. Unsurprisingly, the need for a seamless and compelling shopping experience has skyrocketed for the next-gen makeup user. And when it comes to embodying user satisfaction and comfort, Ulta Beauty stands out. Similar to influence and models transitioning the industry, mobile apps alter the reality of the makeup shopping experience. 

In the transformative era of online browsing where convenience is supreme, a cosmetic shopping app like Ulta Beauty offers a portal to an extensive range of skincare, makeup, and haircare gems under those nail extensions. 

Now that cosmetic apps like Sugar, Sephora, Ulta Beaty, and Nayka are glamourizing the market, it is time to break through the competition with custom beauty store app development. But how does one make a difference in this competitive market with users having pre-defined notions of beauty apps? Let us comprehend the shimmering processes to bring clarity and offer an exceptional understanding of the market. 

Market Revolution Caused by Beauty Store App Development like Ulta Beauty

For over a decade, the beauty industry has intertwined its innovation ideas with ecommerce app development, bringing personalized apps to users. The revolution started businesses build an app like Ulta Beauty that offered half of the population a chance to streamline their makeup needs and directly order them to their doorstep. 

Targeting an audience that finds their products either out of stock or used to get shipped from across the seas, the app offers the same flipped coin for all. The change altered the realities of the industry and helped it expand to the extent that current users prefer beauty apps only. 

The beauty app industry transitioned by incorporating AI and ML to target the audience and offer functionalities like generative makeup looks and online skin quizzes to suggest beauty tips. Not only makeup centric issues being addressed, but the package delivery problems are resolving with AI-powered chatbots. 

Market Overview of a Cosmetic Shopping App Like Ulta Beauty

Statista concluded that 62.7% of beauty products were purchased by mobile users in the global market in 2023. They also stated that the beauty shopping app development is set to reach $3.4 billion by 2026. The statistics indicate immense future growth and beauty market expansion.

One statement by McKinsey articulated that 71% of shoppers anticipate brands to offer personalization, whereas 76% are disenchanted they are not considered during the Considering that the makeup industry is widely being adopted not only for makeup but also other branches of cosmetics like haircare products, skincare options, and designer perfumes. 

Must-have Feature for Building a Beauty Store App Like Ulta Beauty

Determining that the dropped solutions are often feature-rich for cross-platform mobile app development is essential. Below are some of the imperative features that will change your story and help with beauty store app development like Ulta Beauty or Sephora: 

1. Sign-in

Signing in to the beauty store app is also attainable through social media or existing Google accounts for better connectivity and understanding of user preferences. With Google connectivity, users sign up only once, allowing them to log in and skim through the app anytime.

2. Customer Service

With an Android app development agency, businesses can incorporate a virtual assistant feature that guarantees 24/7 support and assistance to consumers regarding questions about services, products, and payments.

3. Virtual Artist

When building a beauty store app like Ulta Beauty, virtual artist features must be included. Such a feature allows the user to personalize customers’ purchases. It is popular among users, so beauty businesses prefer it in their beauty apps. With the assistance of augmented reality, users can digitally try on one of the new lipsticks using this device to analyze if it suits them. The virtual artist feature will assist consumers in making an informed decision regarding the project they buy.

4. Location-Based Messaging

Location-based messaging is a distinctive feature that authorizes the app to forward messages based on geographical location to consumers established nearby. Beauty app users will also get suitable notifications and announcements, considering they are near an Ulta store. With the assistance of beauty store app development, location-based messages can include exclusive mobile offers, events in the store, and more.

5. Personalized Alerts

The beauty app dispatches notifications using the Internet of Things to track users. It offers alerts based on preferences regarding forthcoming events, review points, and the latest product launches. This feature allows users to stay current about upcoming beauty offers and trends, and app owners can attain new potential customers by improving user engagement.

6. Beauty Quiz

Users can be indecisive about the product, quality, shade, and appearance, so they sometimes find it challenging to select a suitable beauty product. A customized beauty service app can assist customers with this situation by offering a beauty quiz and helping them decide. A beauty quiz designed for users can help them discover the proper cosmetics for their skin and body to make the most satisfactory choice.

7. Wish List

When you choose an eCommerce app development agency for a beauty app, you must require them to add a wishlist feature to help users save time and select from numerous products. The wishlist feature allows users to save out-of-stock products and add them later to their cart once they receive a notification about their availability. 

8. Voice Assistant

People’s hectic lives sometimes leave them with no choice but to rely on voice commands to find what they seek. Voice assistants are a significant support to occupied buyers. The voice assistant assists them in obtaining the product by merely giving commands. With an AI application development company, businesses can get their hands on technologically advanced AI-powered voice assistant that enhances the user experience. 

9. Video Shopping

In the new age of cosmetics and technology, it is one of the most unexplored features emphasized when creating an app like Ulta Beauty for beauty services. Thanks to this feature, customers profit from a more personalized buying experience because they understand how certain things look on different people. 

10. Product Recommendations

The product recommendation feature recommends products based on customers’ previous browsing preferences and purchases. It also offers styling and beauty recommendations for a more custom-made shopping experience.

11. Payment Gateways

Offering the user multiple payment gateways makes it feasible for them to shop easily. The higher the chance of purchase, the more online and offline payment methods like debit/credit cards, UPI, PayPal, or cash on delivery the cosmetics store’s app incorporates. Businesses must develop a beauty app with all the necessary payment modes to make it convenient for users. 

12. Loyalty Program

This feature is developed to improve customers’ trust by offering supplementary advantages such as rewards points, vouchers for discounts, cash back, and codes. It is an incredible method to ensure that people use the app for a more extended duration. 

13. Ratings and Reviews

Reviews and ratings build trust among users, as they can understand the reliability of goods they are considering buying. The more reviews, the more precise the understanding of the products. Implementing such a feature offers businesses a competitive edge in the market and grows customer loyalty toward the app. 

14. Chatbot

Intelligent chatbot features can improve the user experience and benefit your beauty app. If you are considering incorporating AI-powered chatbot features into your app, consult an AI app development company.

15. Inventory Management

When working with huge inventories containing millions of products, the inventory management feature enables tracking a record of all types of products available. This enhances the cosmetics app’s productivity by making products available to users.

Step-by-Step Beauty Store App Development Process

Preceding the features one must have in their beauty app comes the idea of development processes. Businesses can either build a development team themselves or hire Android app developers for their processes. The following will help you understand why following a systematic approach is essential for building an app like Ulta Beauty. 

1. Define Requirement

The first step in beginning the development process is understanding your needs. Gathering the information necessary for building a cosmetics app, for instance, the features and functionalities, the type of t technology stack, the development team, and many others. Getting a concrete understanding of your beauty app helps throughout the cycle. 

2. Wireframing and Designing

With the help of a mobile app design agency, cosmetics businesses, and firms can build a wireframe of the app and design it according to their choice. From understanding the user’s preference for the design to infusing the element businesses want, everything should be covered in creating a user-friendly design. 

3. Development and Testing

After finalizing the look and feel of the app, building it as per the layout arrives. A team with industry knowledge and development expertise is the most essential asset in the process to build a cosmetic store app like Ulta Beauty. From working on base code to integrating third-party APIs, everything should be followed systematically to streamline the functionality of the cosmetics app.

The work does not stop here but connects to the quality assurance aspect of development. With a mobile app testing service provider, businesses can confirm that their cosmetic app is bug-free and ready for the market.

4. Deployment

Once the processes from ideation to testing are completed, the final stage of deployment starts. When beauty businesses hire a cosmetic store app development company, they get assistance for deployment of apps in the market hassle-free. They handle everything from planning the deployment to the final launch. 

5. Support and Maintenance

The steps may be concluded, but the post-deployment process remains one of the most important. Once the app is launched, it will require updating and regular maintenance for proper functioning. With support and maintenance, cosmetics businesses can easily keep up with the upcoming trends and issues.  

Technology Stack Used for Beauty Shopping App Development

Businesses must remember to focus on the technology stack to build an on-demand app like Ulta Beauty. You can choose an Android or iOS app development company to help you understand the need for a suitable tech stack.  So, we have gathered all the essential tech stacks that a development company can utilize to create a cosmetics app. 

Understanding Beauty Shopping App Development Cost

The beauty shopping app development cost deviates from $15,000 to $150,000, depending on the number of features and functionalities, the chosen tech stack, the place of the cosmetic store app development company, as well as different other aspects like wireframing, UI/UX design, the capital investment on developers and the duration of the process.

Why Choose AppsChopper as Your Reliable Cosmetic Store App Development Company?

If you have ideas for mobile apps related to the beauty and cosmetics industry, you must choose AppsChopper. As a forward-thinking app development company with expertise in on-demand beauty services app development, we integrate your innovative ideas with intelligent technologies. With our immense vertical understanding and previous project knowledge, our experts offer reliable and transparent development services. 

Whether building an app with augmented reality features or offering businesses an app with a voice assistant, AppsChopper brings innovative inventions to the forefront. Hire on-demand app developers and shimmer with your custom cosmetic and beauty app.