Dive Brief:
- Following a 22-store test, Walmart plans to expand a new beauty expert store associate role to 425 stores across the U.S. by the end of the year, the company told Retail Dive. Pilot testing of the new position began in September 2025 in Northwest Arkansas and expanded to Dallas-area stores in January.
- The store “Beauty Experts” serve as dedicated associates to the beauty category instead of having a shared-responsibility store position. They can earn between $14 and $35 per hour based on location.
- The position is paired with the retailer’s Beauty 2.0 redesign, Vice President of Walmart U.S. Operations Whitney Hunt told Retail Dive via email. The redesign effort repositions beauty offerings to a more front-of-store location and aims to create a more specialty retail experience.
Dive Insight:
Walmart’s beauty-specific store role puts it in more direct competition with specialty retailers, such as Ulta and Sephora.
“Walmart is creating new opportunities for associates, like the Beauty Expert, to better serve our customers as shopping habits evolve,” Hunt said in emailed comments. “The role was created to better align the in-store experience with these updates by introducing a dedicated associate focused on beauty. This pilot is designed to test how a more specialized role can make the Beauty experience more personal, interactive, and accessible for customers as we continue to learn and refine the model.”
The position receives specialized training beyond standard store onboarding, with a focus on product knowledge, Hunt said. Beauty Experts receive ongoing monthly and quarterly trainings on products across skin care, cosmetics and hair care.
The specialized associates also receive “Walmart Beauty Boxes” so they can test products themselves to then offer more informed recommendations to customers. Additionally, the position will support in-store events that include partnerships with suppliers as Walmart continues to test what types of engagements resonate with shoppers.
The moves comes as mass retailer Target is revamping its own beauty experience amid a broader turnaround effort.
Target in March announced it will debut a new store space for its beauty offerings later this year, dubbed “Target Beauty Studio,” as its shop-in-shop partnership with Ulta concludes in August. The new store space will debut in about 600 stores this fall and Target will introduce beauty-specific rewards into its loyalty program.
Some dollar stores are also leaning more into beauty merchandising. Dollar General continues to execute its own beauty initiative, dubbed Beauty Reinvention, that launched in 2023. The mass discount chain earlier this month launched a weeklong beauty-focused savings event that included deals on brands such as Maybelline, L’Oréal, Thayer’s, Old Spice and more.
