Expo Exposé: Beauty Convention Thread

[danielledanielle]

Hey 👋🏽 

So, Sephoria has a special place in my heart 🫶🏽, but.. sometimes the heart wants what it wants...

 

I posted some Hauls from this year's "The Makeup Show" (which is also happening in September) and Ulta had its first bout, Ulta Beauty World.  Thought this would be a good place to share our thoughts, any tea and feedback on these conventions. 

(Pop ups also welcomed - feel free to share dates and experiences on those, too)

Feel free to post photos, upcoming events and impressions.  Give me all the tea ☕ 

 

Also check out:

Sephoria 2024 Atlanta, Georgia 

The SEPHORiA Diaries 2023 

[missjeanie]

Well BIC'ers... Did anyone get tickets to Ulta Beauty World?  I know a few of us were waiting for the link before 9am CT today but never made it past the online queue.  Hoping to hear we have some members who managed to snag tickets!

[WinglessOne]

@missjeanie  I didn’t bother trying, mostly because I figured my chances would be extremely low. My social media feeds have been dotted with lots of ticked-off Ulta customers who didn’t get tickets, so I’m extra glad I sat the whole thing out.

I do feel for the folks who missed out, especially those who were stuck in hours-long queue purgatory. That sounds like the kind of backend glitchiness I’d expect from Ulta (though to their credit, their site’s consistently worked much better since they’ve cleared some of their redesign bugs over the last year or two). 🤦‍♀️ I’ve seen some people claim Ulta rigged the ticket buyflow code to allow only certain people to get tickets, but nah, I looked at their screenshots of code and they just look like a typical “first come, first served” type of buyflow. Eh, I don’t work for Ulta so I can’t say what they may or may not have actually done behind the scenes. I highly doubt this specific conspiracy theory though.

Today an anti-Ulta Facebook group hit my feed. It was kinda weird seeing so many people say “let’s all take our business to Sephora instead” because of UBW tickets, considering how this year’s Sephoria ticket sale was handled. Like, tell me you didn’t try to get Sephoria tickets without telling me. 😂 To be fair, I didn’t hear of Sephoria shoppers getting stuck in queue for hours. (I didn’t try to get those tickets either.) So a small win for Sephora, I guess. But also, I suppose more people are simply used to Sephoria quickly selling out since that convention’s existed longer than UBW, hence fewer complaints (that I’ve seen) about Sephoria sellout than UBW sellout. Though I did see some very angry Rouge members complaining.

And I’ll stop rambling now. 😅

[danielledanielle]

Not a ramble at all @WinglessOne , it's kind of odd honestly how both of these events went down.  And it's odd that people don't watch the competition, even though the watch each other.  What's weird is no one is benchmarking each other because it's straight up hubris.  They know they will sell out, even if the experience is crappy for long time users.  It goes right in hand with the getting more "first time buyers" since previous shoppers are "too transactional" strategy we've seen Sephora (and so many other places) do.

[WinglessOne]

@danielledanielle  The whole “too transactional” customer strategy still cracks me up. I mean, the only customers who really aren’t transactional are wealthy enough to shop regularly at Hermes, Louis Vuitton, etc. These are shoppers who genuinely don’t worry about monetary transactions on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis. Sure, there’s some psychology behind that; there are wealthy folks out there who actively mother-hen their money. But I’ve never fully understood why Sephora (and any other retailer using this strategy) tries to split money-conscious shoppers from folks who ~appreciate experiences~ when there’s lots of overlap there.

Anyway, I hope UBW goes well this year. Lots of angry people wanna see if it’s full of influencers only, or if non-influencers actually attend, because they’re convinced Ulta rigged ticket sales to exclude regular folks. I still doubt that’s true but hey, I don’t work for Ulta and have no personal skin in this game since I didn’t even try to get a ticket. If UBW gets lots of negative reviews/press/reaction, Ulta might have trouble selling all tickets next year. Or maybe not, since plenty of people will still probably wanna go to next year’s event (if it happens)—but since this is only UBW’s second year, they’re still kinda in a proving ground period. That’s different from Sephoria which is, what, 7 or 8 years old now? (Some folks might subtract the couple virtual-only years.) I’ll be surprised if Sephoria ever fails to sell out. 

[missjeanie]

@WinglessOne @danielledanielle I've also seen a lot of the negativity towards UTLA with regards to this on my social media.  I don't believe people saying it was an influencer only event either.  I've got to think that Ulta set aside X number of tickets that never made it to the ticket queue for those people.  A lot of the complaining going on really makes me think that people aren't actually reasoning out why they didn't get a ticket and just trying to make it Ulta's fault no matter how far fetched it seems to me.  People demanding extra days be added or that they take over a larger footprint of the convention center to people saying they're going to picket the event and make life hard for those setting up or attending.  

I did see a few influencers I recognized last year, but I'm sure the majority of people attending were just like me, a beauty lover who enjoyed getting to attend an experience. 

I do think Ulta had amazing social media buy in after the expo last year and that likely lead to the 'virality' of this years ticket stampede. The number of people who are mad at Ulta who didn't even know about Sephoria tells me they aren't there for the experience.  The number of people I saw before ticket launch for UBW talking about getting loans or not paying a bill or how to use an after pay type of situation to pay for tickets in order to 'get free stuff' was wild.  I really wonder what kind of atmosphere they'll have there this year compared to last. 

[WinglessOne]

@missjeanie  Yep, Ulta posted (on Instagram IIRC) that they‘d basically split available tickets into two batches: one small batch set aside (separate from the public buyflow) for influencers, and one large batch for everyone else. Seems logical and industry standard to me. 🤷‍♀️ I have to wonder how many complainers also yell at music, theater, and sports venues (or performers/teams) that reserve batches of tickets for special/influential guests and end up selling out general public tickets for performances/games*. Or if they’ve ever even tried to buy tickets for a very popular event before. Picketing UBW and demanding Ulta (and brand participants) magically expand their available floor space or add extra days seems very… ugh, I don’t wanna say “entitled” but the only other word springing to mind is “delusional.” And again, I do feel bad for folks who wound up stuck in the sales queue; if that happened, then that’s on Ulta. It may not have prevented ticket sales (the queue might’ve glitched out once all tickets were sold), but it’s a bad experience nonetheless. Quite different from claims of Ulta rigging the buyflow though.

*Excluding instances of actual seller misconduct, like letting scalpers buy in bulk because the seller had no anti-bot protocols in place. And I dunno, maybe whatever the heck Swifties were mad at Ticketmaster for… eh, I don’t listen to or keep up with Taylor Swift… something about her shows selling out too fast, which spotlit Ticketmaster’s alleged monopoly. I don’t recall if TM was legally found to have done anything wrong though. 

And yeah, a lotta folks did seem to want UBW tickets solely because of social media posts they saw of last year’s freebies frenzy. I’m with you on attending something like this for the experience of talking with brand reps, tutorials/masterclasses, maybe meeting some brand founders, trying testers of products not normally found in-store, etc. Freebies are just the cherry on top of the main dessert I actually paid for. Something tells me UBW free stuff might be reduced this year, and then people will complain they didn’t get suitcases full of freebies like last year’s attendees—as if participating brands are obligated to give away so much product. 🙄

I’m still glad you got to do UBW last year and had a good time! 

[danielledanielle]

If anyone did @missjeanie , they should play lotto or enter something today...

[missjeanie]

I noticed a few of the Rouge Reward Sephoria Tickets are still available on the US side.  

My 'girl math' tells me that 2500 points are worth 100$ (based off rouge reward value), so the 12500 points for this would have this reward valued at 500$. Two tickets means 250$ per ticket, which is high compared to the original early bird price, but since everything is sold out... Not a horrible deal!

[danielledanielle]

Tickets for Ulta Beauty World go on sale next week 9am CST for Thursday , April 16.  There's also a masterclass happening April 15.  Shout-out to @missjeanie @itsfi for the info

[missjeanie]

@danielledanielle It feels like there's more social media buzz about UBW this year, I wonder if part of that is due to Sephoria selling out so fast?

[danielledanielle]

That and the UBW posts where people were just leaving with wagons... 👀@missjeanie 

[missjeanie]

@danielledanielle lol we used a flatbed cart last year at UBW... mind you it was for 3 of us!  The online chatter I'm seeing also has a ton of people who are flat out saying they're just going to get freebies.  Mind you I think a lot of them think that each brand has a mini store set up and that they get to pick what all the samples are.  It'll be interesting to see how it differs this year compared to last (assuming I can get a ticket)

[itsfi]

For Rouge members interested in SEPHORiA 2026 Los Angeles, CA …

 

[missjeanie]

I did notice that Ulta posted over the weekend that they'd have ticket info available soon for Ulta Beauty World happening April 16th at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.  

Faeriegirl (unsure why I can't tag) mentioned that they had been replying to comments on Instagram and looks like people won't be able to bring in rolling suitcases this year, but that Ulta will have an option to buy their rolling bag at registration.  It also looks like you'll only be able to purchase one ticket at a time. I do remember last year that UBW did check ID when you were on the way in and your ID had to match the name on the ticket.  

[itsfi]

@missjeanie, that's a smart business and marketing decision to make rolling bags available for purchase at registration.

[missjeanie]

@itsfi I did remember looking at a few after UBW last year thinking they may be handy, but just couldn't justify purchasing one for just this one event.  I'll be curious to hear what they end up with, and if there'll be an checking option with the convention center again.  

[itsfi]

@danielledanielle and @makeitup305 were chatting some time ago about having products and merch available for purchase at beauty events - Re: Expo Exposé: Beauty Convention Threa... - Page 2 - Beauty Insider Community. I saw that this was one of the perks available at this year's Sephoria -- "Be the first to purchase new products and merch". 

I like the idea that there will be new products available to purchase there as well as merch. New products would likely be driven by the brands and what they have in their product queue, but I'm curious - what kind of product(s) or merch would folks like to see made available at Sephoria? I'm assuming there may be items similar to products from Sephora The Merch Shop | Sephora but what else would people like to see?

[missjeanie]

@itsfi I was excited to see this for this years event as well! 
Past merch I use a lot are canvas totes, power banks, Turkish towels and a pool floatie. I’m sure there will be lots of canvas totes, but I’m not mad at another power bank. 
mid love to see the merch be Sephoria logo’d as well so that it’s a bit more specific to the event. Items that are smaller/easier to pack would be a big bonus! I do love @danielledanielle idea of a bag charm!

[itsfi]

Ohhhh I like these ideas @missjeanie ! 😍 I would be on board for a canvas bag and a power bank. I can always find a way to use a canvas bag and a power bank? Yes! I have two, of different sizes and I still think "maybe I should get another one for (some other bag of mine)". And, thank you again for saving me in, I think Atlanta? with your power bank - I mean, what would I have done if my phone died?!!! 😣

YES!!! I would love to see something available that had a tie-in with SEPHORiA and the city/state where the event is held. Whether something attached to a charm or part of the design of the charm. Or, even a pin like the fun Sephora pins that were sometimes included in the gratis packages we were generously gifted by @TeamBIC. I'm in the northern part of the State but I'm sure there's something for which Los Angeles is known (that folks from LA or Orange County or even the greater Southern California area could speak to) that could be fairly easily incorporated into a pin design with the SEPHORiA logo/tradename. Or maybe something like that might be better suited to including in the swag bags. I do like the idea of having something with a connection to the specific site where that particular Sephoria event is taking place.

Easy to pack / travel-friendly are good qualifiers. 

[missjeanie]

@itsfi I feel like my phone is ALWAYS running on low!  I look forward to seeing what kind of unique items they have as well.  I feel like Sephora does a pretty great job at picking out some fun things to brand.