The British Beauty Battle: Why Are There So Many Retailers?

Beauty shopping in the UK is a unique experience. You can find luxury brands at Boots, a pharmacy, or Harrods, a luxury department store, or shop them online at Look Fantastic, an e-commerce retailer. With so many options, it’s far from an intuitive shopping experience, so why does the market look this way? That’s the topic we’re exploring in this week’s podcast.

Over the last five years, the market has experienced significant shifts. From the mid-2010s through to the pandemic, online beauty retail was booming, but these players have faced increasing challenges in profitability due to the rising costs of acquiring online customers. Meanwhile, Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), which owns Boots, has seen its stock value plummet, prompting attempts to exit the market—but they’ve struggled to make it happen.

In contrast, luxury department stores like Harrods, Selfridges, and Liberty London are doubling down on enhancing their beauty offerings, aiming to deliver an elevated in-store experience. Against this backdrop, Sephora returned to the UK after a 17-year absence. Recognising that their brand alone wouldn’t cut it, they acquired online retailer Feelunique. To say this market is hostile doesn’t even begin to cover it.

What complicates this further is not only the lack of brand exclusivity, with mass, prestige, and luxury brands available across a variety of retailers, but also the growing emphasis each retailer is placing on expanding their in-store presence.

As e-retailers struggle to remain profitable, large retailers that offer both in-store and online experiences are seeing significant online growth. One trend becomes clear in this episode: the necessity of an omnichannel approach. However, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each retailer is a much murkier task.

The intense competition and market upheaval make the UK beauty retail landscape both incredibly entertaining and notoriously difficult to navigate as a brand. With so many players vying for consumer attention and loyalty, it can feel like a battlefield. This chaos, while fascinating, presents real challenges for brands looking to break through.

In today’s episode, we’ll break down these complexities, offering insight into how brands can better understand and maneuver through this ever-evolving market.