The Challenge
When Ulta Beauty (the largest Beauty and Personal Care retailer in the USA) launched its new Greenfield distribution center in Greer, SC, the challenge was not just efficiency; it was building a fulfillment model that could absorb seasonal peaks, labor variability, and shifting order profiles without overbuilding for forecast risk. Distribution center associates relied on manual picking that required excessive travel. Not only did this process limit throughput, it meant that adjusting to peak volatility was dependent on adding labor. In a high SKU Beauty environment, Ulta Beauty needed a solution that could adapt during volume spikes and seasonal surges – without long-term capacity lock in.
The Solution
Locus Robotics deployed an initial fleet of 170 Locus Origin robots to replace manual cart-based picking and give Ulta Beauty a more agile fulfillment model. Using a flexible RaaS model and LocusONE®-powered orchestration, Ulta Beauty doubled its robot fleet during the holiday season to handle higher order volume without redesigning the facility or committing to permanent capacity.
The Results
Locus Robotics AMRs absorb peaks and variability
- 75% increase in workforce stability by cutting training time from 4 hours to 15-60 minutes
- 40% throughput scalability from YoY order growth between 2024–2025 across Ulta sites, plus 25% UPH increase and +51.7% peak week lines.
- 2x elastic capacity through fleet increase for holiday peak, with RaaS enabling elastic capacity.
Powered by the LocusONE® platform, Ulta Beauty dynamically orchestrates workflows, robots and labor in real-time to maintain performance during peak demand. As of 2026, Locus is active across multiple Ulta Beauty sites; enabling peak week throughput +51.7% lines, and +36.1% respectively across two locations between 2024 – 2025.
We looked at several providers for Ulta Beauty’s transformation and Locus Robotics came out as the clear winner to meet Ulta Beauty’s objectives and provide the scalability and flexibility that they needed in their brand-new greenfield building in Greer, SC.