Superdrug grows sales and market share over "tremendous" Christmas

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Jan 19, 2023

Superdrug can now join a long list of UK beauty retailers delivering strong results for the Christmas trading period, with premium fragrances a top gifting target for consumers, it said.

The high street health & beauty retailer saw sales increasing 16% versus December 2021 and the icing on the Christmas cake was market share growth for the all-important seasonal period, it added.

It pointed to “an integrated O+O (offline plus online) experience [that] better served customers’ needs, providing a seamless retail experience, and driving December sales”.

Superdrug said top-performing categories for the season were Fragrance and Cosmetics, which recorded the biggest sales week ever in the week before Christmas. “This topped off a fantastic growth year for Fragrance and in particular for Premium Fragrance, after six luxury brands were introduced in September 2022”. Those brands were YSL, Viktor & Rolf, Prada, Giorgio Armani, Valentino and Narciso Rodriquez.

In Cosmetics, it said sales were back to pre-Covid Christmas 2019 levels, as consumers prepared for the party season. Beauty Studio also saw its biggest month in December, with Nail Services and Piercing proving the most popular, “solidifying Superdrug’s position as the number one on the high street for piercing”.

Meanwhile, the retailer said it consistently saw increased footfall across December, with average weekly transactions 19% higher than December 2021 “as customers snapped up the very best high street value in price and promotions”.

It said a continued focus on affordability “was a significant driver of growth”, resulting in a 20% December sales rise for Own Brand and an increased uptake of Members Only pricing among its Health & Beautycard users.

Sales were also boosted by its Own Brand Price Freeze, which saw the prices of over 5,000 of the most popular health & beauty items frozen earlier in 2022.

CEO Peter Macnab talked of “a tremendous Christmas….Our commitment to accessibility means that customers continue to come to us for the very best in high street value, at a time when affordability really matters. Our continued investment in stores, market-leading digital progression and innovation in Own Brand has driven increased sales and market share growth.”