Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowTwo Indiana women are seeking class action status in a lawsuit against Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc., accusing the beauty store of spamming customers with misleading emails.
The plaintiffs say the company’s “false time scarcity” claims manipulate customer decision-making for the seller’s benefit.
Under Indiana’s Deceptive Commercial Electronic Mail Act, online marketers must be truthful in their commercial email marketing to encourage honest commerce and protect consumers from “nuisance and deception,” according to the lawsuit.
But the plaintiffs argue Ulta’s online marketing approach is anything but honest.
“Ulta spams Hoosiers … with email subject lines that employ various tactics to create a false sense of urgency in their minds and, ultimately, their wallets,” the complaint states.
The company uses false time scarcity tactics to urge consumers to buy products quickly, stating in emails that many deals have an immediate deadline when they actually last days longer than advertised, the lawsuit states.
On Feb. 17, 2025, Ulta sent an email with the subject line “Say bye to $10 off $50 or $20 off $100,” telling customers that if they didn’t act quickly, they would miss an offer that ended that day. But, according to the lawsuit, another email was sent the next day stating the same $10 off deal was available through Feb. 22.
Representatives for Ulta did not respond Wednesday afternoon to a request for comment from The Indiana Lawyer.
The plaintiffs also accuse Ulta of using location tracking and data sharing to target Indiana residents in its email campaigns. The lawsuit states that Ulta’s use of Oracle and Salesforce Marketing Cloud to manage its email marketing campaigns allow the company to collect and track customer data when they open emails from Ulta.
The plaintiffs are seeking injunctive relief against the company and damages for themselves and the class.
“The DCEMA prohibits companies like Ulta from marketing emails that make ‘false or misleading’ statements in the subject line,” attorneys for the plaintiffs told The Indiana Lawyer in an email. “This is precisely what Ulta has done: Ulta spams Hoosiers, like Plaintiffs, with marketing emails that create false urgency through deceptive statements about Ulta’s promotions of its products. Ulta sends consumers emails with banner headlines, like ‘LAST DAY’ and ‘LAST CHANCE’ on a 50% off sale—creating a false scarcity in consumers’ minds about the sale—when it knows that it will continue those deals beyond that ‘last’ day, and often the very next day. This anti-consumer conduct is a detriment to Hoosier consumers and violates DCEMA.”
The lawsuit was originally filed in Marion County Superior Court in August and moved earlier this week to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
The case is Abriel Sears and Faith Taylor v. Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc., 1:26-cv-2026.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.