Target and Walmart beauty makeovers force brands to rethink retail playbooks

Target and Walmart are overhauling their beauty, wellness and personal care aisles to rival specialty retailers — and large consumer packaged goods companies and independent labels are rewriting their retail playbooks in response. The changes span packaging, media budgets and distribution strategy.

For brands without direct-to-consumer infrastructure, mass retail stores now serve two functions: sales volume and advertising inventory.

"Except for a couple of our brands, we don't have DTC," Veronique Mura, svp and gm of sun and skin at Edgewell Personal Care, told Modern Retail. Edgewell's portfolio includes Hawaiian Tropic, Schick and Wet Ones. "Target and Walmart are very important to us, so we're trying to adapt and work with those retailers from a footprint perspective — but they're also media partners now, and that's the big evolution."

How does retail media change brand budgets?

Retail media has become central to Edgewell's planning. "Retail media is a big part of what we are trying to do: always integrating our plans back into commerce," Mura said. "With a smaller budget, that's really important."

The implication: brands without DTC data or owned audiences treat Walmart and Target not just as shelf space but as paid-media channels, folding commerce and advertising into a single plan.

Why are brands repositioning as beauty labels?

As mass retailers elevate their beauty credentials, brands are repositioning products to match. "I very much see our Hawaiian Tropic brand as a beauty brand and not as a clinical SPF brand; it's leaning into the territory of beauty," Mura said.

She pointed to Target's history: "Obviously, Target used to have Ulta. Now, they're also trying to build their [own] beauty credentials in the beauty aisle. And with Hawaiian Tropic, we're [supporting] that."

Edgewell is upgrading how its brands appear in store. "We are [exploring updates] to our packaging across our brands," Mura said. "That's something I'm always telling my team: 'Just because you're a mass brand, it doesn't mean you can't look good.'" For Hawaiian Tropic, that means commissioning better materials, down to the corrugated substrate, to drive the beauty positioning.

Keeping shelf space in crowded aisles requires brands to mirror retailer priorities. "[As retailers evolve], it's more about keeping up with the pace and making sure what you're offering, in terms of the brand — your brand proposition, your customer story — aligns," Mura said.

What does mass expansion mean for growth?

James Thomas, U.S. chief commercial and operations officer at No7 Beauty Company, sees "tremendous opportunity for continued growth" at Walmart. "We believe Walmart is uniquely positioned to help us reach new audiences and serve as a key growth driver for the brand," he said in an emailed statement.

Independent brands report similar dynamics, with younger merchandising teams and new doors opening. "Our [channel focus] is changing. We're in Walmart now — we have an awesome Gen-Z buyer for Walmart now, and she rocks," said a beauty brand's head of marketing, speaking off the record. "Plus, we're in Publix now. We're in places we didn't think we would ever be."

The cost of entry is rising. "Once you're in and excited to be there, it's like, 'Let's play a money game. Who's going to spend the most for the end cap for the holidays?' And I can't afford that," she said.

How do brands protect specialty retail partners?

Mass expansion strains existing specialty relationships. Many shop owners were upset when her brand entered Target, viewing the new channel as competition. Her answer is assortment segmentation: mom-and-pop shops remain the brand's bread and butter, with updates every two weeks, while Target carries only best sellers and smaller partners keep seasonal and bolder products as exclusives.

An executive at a subscription-based beauty box company argued specialty stores benefit from the halo effect. "There's a brand awareness halo that happens from Target that then drips into these smaller retailers, and they're going to see the return," she said. "Entering mass doors makes a brand feel more established."

Her company enters Walmart this holiday season with a mystery box of beauty products — a lower-risk format for brands not yet ready for mass. "We're sort of the umbrella that keeps them safe but also allows the retailer to have these more interesting curations within the shop," she said. In her view, it is only a matter of time before the included brands enter the channel on their own.