Political Factors Affecting Ulta Beauty

Political, Economic, Sociocultural, Technological, Ecological and Legal Analysis (PESTEL)
ULTA Beauty faces various political, economic, sociocultural, technological, ecological, and legal factors in its external environment. These factors can affect corporate strategy and should be considered during strategy development as they provide threats and opportunities afforded to the company. Although the factors mentioned below create risk for the company, ULTA Beauty has turned the political, sociocultural, and ecological factors into an opportunity, while striving to plan for and minimize legal, economic, and technological risk.
Political
Political factors that have an impact on ULTA Beauty include political disputes between the United States

Increasing minimum wage is a constant debate among today’s workforce. The company needs to plan and prepare for these instances before they occur. Increased wages throughout the organization, especially for entry-level associates who make up most of the employees, could have a negative effect on net sales and profits. At the same time, increased wages could have a positive effect on the purchases made by customers.
Economic
Economic factors that have an impact on ULTA Beauty include market, interest, and employment rates. Market volatility and recent economic crisis have resulted in stricter credit markets. With an increase in the cost of capital borrowing and interest rates, the company faces threats to their growth strategy and expansion of operations. Such market and credit conditions could make it difficult for new owners to obtain financing for new store buildings.
Employment levels are another factor that impact ULTA Beauty. Decreases in employment rates could have a negative impact on consumer spending, specifically as it relates to purchases of discretionary items, prestige brands, and salon services. Decreased employment levels could affect consumer spending habits, leading to an overall decline in net

For operational purposes, the company collects and stores confidential information about their customers, employees, suppliers, and vendors. For purposes of their rewards program, the company collects sensitive and confidential consumer information. Although security measures and information technology systems have been put in place to ensure secure transmission and storage of confidential information, security breaches, computer viruses, or even human error can occur. Any of these events could cause data to be lost or stolen, as well as disclosed and used with malicious intent. Such occurrence could lead to litigation, fines, increased security costs, and damage to