Inventory Turnover › Beauty & Cosmetics
Beauty & Cosmetics Inventory Turnover Benchmarks 2026
Beauty retailers run 1.8x to 3.6x annual inventory turnover. Specialty superstore Ulta sits at the top; beauty-supply operator Sally Beauty, weighed down by deep professional assortment and a distribution arm, sits at the bottom. Long shelf lives and wide shade matrices keep cosmetics slower than grocery, and high margins pay for it.
Named retailer 10-K data
| Retailer | Fiscal Year | Turnover | COGS | Avg Inventory |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ulta Beauty(ULTA) | FY25 (ended Jan 31 2026) | 3.6x | $7.55B | $2.07B |
| Sally Beauty Holdings(SBH) | FY25 (ended Sep 30 2025) | 1.8x | $1.79B | $1.01B |
Turnover = cost of goods sold / average inventory, using the two most recent fiscal year-end inventory balances. Ulta reports cost of sales inclusive of store occupancy and buying costs; Sally reports cost of goods sold across its Sally and BSG segments. Sephora (LVMH) and privately-held beauty chains file no standalone US statements, so no public turnover figure exists for them.
Per-retailer notes
Ulta Beauty (ULTA)
3.6x turnoverThe largest US specialty beauty retailer, running roughly 1,400 superstores plus a large e-commerce channel across makeup, skincare, fragrance, hair and in-store salon services. Fiscal 2025 cost of sales was $7,548.0M against merchandise inventories of $2,181.4M (up from $1,968.4M), an average that turns 3.6x. Ulta reports cost of sales inclusive of store occupancy and buying costs, so a merchandise-only rate would be modestly higher; the figure here uses reported cost of sales for consistency across retailers.
Source: Ulta Beauty 10-K, fiscal 2025 (52 weeks ended Jan 31 2026)
Sally Beauty Holdings (SBH)
1.8x turnoverA beauty-supply specialist running two segments: Sally Beauty stores selling to retail and stylist customers, and Beauty Systems Group (BSG), a professional distributor to licensed salons and cosmetologists. Deep professional assortment and a distribution arm hold velocity down. Fiscal 2025 cost of goods sold was $1,790.7M against inventories of $987.6M (down from $1,037.0M), an average that turns 1.8x, or roughly 206 days on hand.
Source: Sally Beauty Holdings 10-K, fiscal 2025 (year ended Sep 30 2025)
The brand side turns on a different clock
A cosmetics brand is not a retailer, and its inventory behaves differently. e.l.f. Beauty (ELF), an asset-light brand that outsources manufacturing and holds mostly finished goods, turned inventory about 2.4x in fiscal 2026 (ended March 31 2026): cost of revenue of roughly $479.1M against inventories of $220.3M, up from $187.2M. That lands between Ulta and Sally, but it reflects a brand-and-manufacturer supply chain feeding many retail partners, not store-level velocity, so it is not directly comparable to Ulta or Sally.
The pattern across beauty holds the general retail rule: the closer inventory sits to the shelf, the faster it tends to turn, but assortment depth and channel model swamp that effect. A specialty superstore with a curated best-seller assortment turns faster than a beauty-supply chain carrying thousands of professional colour and tool SKUs, even though both sell cosmetics.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good inventory turnover ratio for a beauty or cosmetics retailer?
It depends heavily on format. The named US public beauty retailers bracket the sector: specialty superstore Ulta Beauty turns inventory 3.6x a year, and beauty-supply operator Sally Beauty turns 1.8x, both on their fiscal 2025 10-Ks. A well-run beauty retailer typically lands between roughly 1.8x and 3.6x, slower than grocery or drugstore because cosmetics carry long shelf lives, wide shade and SKU matrices, and promotional cycles that create lumpy demand. Higher margins offset the slower turns.
Why does Ulta turn inventory faster than Sally Beauty?
Ulta is a mass-market specialty superstore: a curated multi-brand assortment of fast-selling prestige and mass cosmetics sold through high-traffic stores and a large e-commerce channel. Sally Beauty is a beauty-supply specialist with far deeper SKU depth (professional colour, tools and salon consumables) and a wholesale distribution segment, BSG, that supplies licensed stylists. Depth of assortment and a distribution arm, not weaker management, are why Sally turns at roughly half Ulta's rate. It is the same pattern as auto parts: SKU breadth, not velocity, is the moat.
How fast does a cosmetics brand like e.l.f. turn its inventory?
e.l.f. Beauty, an asset-light cosmetics brand that outsources manufacturing and holds mostly finished goods, turned inventory about 2.4x in fiscal 2026 (ended March 31 2026): cost of revenue of $479.1M against inventories of $220.3M (up from $187.2M). That sits between Ulta and Sally, but it is a brand-and-manufacturer figure, not a retail rate, so it is not directly comparable to store-based turnover.
Is Sephora's inventory turnover public?
No. Sephora is owned by LVMH and does not file standalone US financial statements, so no audited inventory turnover ratio is available for it. Among large US beauty retailers, Ulta Beauty and Sally Beauty are the two with public 10-Ks; Sephora, Ulta's closest specialty competitor, reports only within LVMH's Selective Retailing segment.