ULTA vs TOST Comparison

Ulta Beauty is the largest specialized beauty retailer in the US with about 1,500 freestanding stores. The firm offers cosmetics (39% of 2024 sales), fragrances (13%), skin care (23%), and hair care products (19%). It also has salon services, including hair, makeup, skin, and brow, that account for about 4% of its revenue and drive traffic. Outside of the US, Ulta acquired premium beauty retailer Space NK and its 83 stores in the UK and Ireland in 2025, is opening franchised stores in Mexico, and has formed a joint venture to expand into the Middle East. In addition, Ulta collects royalties through its Target partnership (set to end in 2026) and credit card revenue. Ulta was founded in 1990 and is based in Bolingbrook, Illinois.

Toast is an end-to-end technology platform designed to address the complex needs of the restaurant industry. The company generates point-in-time revenue through sales of its restaurant-grade hardware and recurring revenue in the form of take rates on restaurant transaction volume as well as subscriptions to its software solutions. As of fiscal 2024, the company provided services to 134,000 restaurant locations primarily in the US. Toast's typical customer is a mid-market restaurant generating slightly more than $1 million in revenue annually.