# The Nue Co. shifted fragrance from 20% to 85% of revenue in two years by landing Ulta *A wellness brand pivoted its entire business model around one retail partnership and one recategorized product line.* By **Jenny Huang Goodman MPA MSc MHSA, Principal** — The Stash Edge, Hako Shikin LLC. Published 2026-07-17. Canonical: https://www.pops4.com/stash/articles/the-nue-co-2026-07-17t15-1 Subject: The Nue Co. Tags: retail partnerships, fragrance, ulta, distribution strategy, category pivot, physical product --- The Nue Co., a wellness brand known for supplements and topicals, grew its fragrance category from **20% of net sales** two years ago to **85% this year**, according to Glossy. The engine: distribution through Ulta Beauty. The brand didn't invent a new product. It repositioned an existing one and found the retail channel where that repositioning could scale. What they did was straightforward. The Nue Co. had been selling fragrance as a side category alongside its core wellness offerings. When it secured placement at Ulta, it leaned into fragrance as the lead product, not the accessory. Ulta gave the brand national footprint and access to a customer already shopping for beauty and personal care, not supplements. The brand treated fragrance as the hero and let Ulta's traffic do the rest. Why it worked comes down to channel fit and category prioritization. The Nue Co. had been selling wellness products direct-to-consumer and through select channels, but fragrance is a discovery category. Customers sample, test, and buy on impulse more readily than they do supplements. Ulta's store format supports that behavior. Walk-in traffic, testers at the counter, and a beauty-focused shopper mindset all favor fragrance over a vitamin protocol. The brand didn't need to change the product. It changed where and how it showed up, and the revenue mix followed. Retail partnerships work when the channel's existing customer motion aligns with the product's natural use case. Supplements require education and repeat purchase discipline. Fragrance benefits from proximity and ritual. Ulta already trains its customer to browse, smell, and buy. The Nue Co. plugged into that motion instead of fighting it. The result was a revenue rebalance that turned a secondary SKU into the majority of the business. The steal for a small physical-product brand starts with identifying which of your SKUs fits a discovery-and-impulse behavior, then finding the retail channel where that behavior is the default. If you sell candles, soap, or anything with scent, Ulta is one option. Smaller regional beauty retailers like Credo, Thirteen Lune, or local chains work the same way. If your product needs to be touched, smelled, or tried, target stores where sampling is the norm. Don't pitch your full line. Pitch the SKU that closes fastest in-store. Approach buyers with a simple offer: limited SKU count, high margin, and a product their customer already wants to sample. Propose a test with three to five doors. Come with clean packaging, a story that fits the store's editorial voice, and a wholesale cost that leaves the retailer **45% to 55% margin**. Reference the format other brands use in that store and match it. If you can't afford slotting fees or co-op marketing, ask for a test-and-reorder deal: net-30 terms, consignment on the first order, and a commitment to restock if the product turns twice in 90 days. Once you're in, support the partnership with content that drives traffic. If your audience is online, tell them where to find you in-store. Tag the retailer in posts. Film yourself visiting the location. Build the retailer's brand while you build yours. The Nue Co. didn't grow fragrance by spending more on ads. It grew by being where the customer was already shopping and making fragrance the obvious choice once she got there. The broader pattern is this: revenue doesn't always follow the product you think is your hero. It follows the product that matches the channel's default behavior. The Nue Co. had fragrance all along. It took a retail partner with the right customer motion to unlock it. For a small brand, that means testing which SKU moves fastest in which environment, then building your distribution strategy around the match. The product that grows isn't always the one you started with. It's the one the channel already knows how to sell. ## The takeaway Revenue follows the product that matches the channel's default customer behavior, not your original hero SKU. --- ## Publisher **Hako Shikin LLC** — Virginia Beach, Virginia. Founded 1997. ASI 217876 · DUNS 18-204-6339. Principal and author: **Jenny Huang Goodman MPA MSc MHSA**. - Author: https://www.huanggoodman.com/about - LLM context: https://www.pops4.com/stash/llms.txt - MCP endpoint, for AI agents: https://mcp.pops4.com/mcp - Client dashboard: https://dashboard.pops4.com/ - Catalogue: 70,000+ products, 200+ brands