With the beauty sector having enjoyed a strong year and with the festive trading period in full swing, which brands are best positioned to dominate peak season? Big-spending Boots and Superdrug are the key players, but there’s more to it than just the Big Two.
Boots
A report by MediaVision reveals a wider picture and, for good measure, “uncovers a powerful cultural shift reshaping the industry”.
While Britain’s biggest beauty players continue to strengthen their hold on the market, “consumer behaviour is clearly evolving” as the latest report’s data shows customers are “moving away from traditional brand-led beauty shopping and towards a more product-first, skin-focused mindset”.
“The UK beauty landscape is evolving – fast, with [digital software tool Metis] data showing brand search is down 1.4% year-on-year, while non-brand, product-led search is up 3.28%,” according to MediaVision CEO Louis Venter.
“Consumers aren’t just searching for brands anymore – they’re far more product and trend-led. That shift presents a major opportunity for marketers who can react to emerging demand and capture growth as it happens.”
From LED face masks (+131%) to lip stains (+118%) and Korean skincare (+28%), “the data tells a clear story – innovation and self-care are driving discovery.”
The report notes the shift is magnified during the Christmas period, when shoppers are “prioritising meaningful, affordable gifts tied to wellness, routine and personal expression”.
Make-up gift sets and perfume remain popular, but skincare-led gifting – from serums to masks to tech devices – is rising faster, the report emphasises.
The reports notes the growing adoption of skin-first routines that mirror a broader cultural shift towards wellness, pointing to TikTok’s ‘high maintenance for low maintenance’ videos, the boom in Korean skincare in the UK, and the popularity of skincare tech tools speak to a consumer “who wants transformation, but through care rather than coverage”.
Of course, retailers remain the biggest beneficiaries of the shift to routine-based beauty, thanks to their breadth of category coverage and ability to serve multiple price points, with Boots leading the way on search, followed by Superdrug, with both having expanded their reach greatly in recent times.
According to MediaVision’s head of SEO Oliver Yee, Boots has cemented its leadership with a 37.5% share of brand search. This reflects the strength of its “omnichannel presence and enduring consumer trust”.
“With an extensive range that serves its customer base across various price points in its beauty collection, Boots looks set to win as we head into Black Friday and Christmas,” he said.
Superdrug follows with 12.3%, “driven by competitive pricing, social-led promotions, and more recently, its venture into Korean skincare”.
LookFantastic (4.5%) and Sephora (3.6%) are also key players in the online beauty space.
“LookFantastic continues to benefit from its broad product range and loyalty schemes, while (for better or worse) Sephora’s controversial collab with Mariah Carey looks set to supercharge its brand visibility through the holiday season.”
Moving on to the quarter’s “fastest-growing brands”, the report notes they all have one thing in common: “they understand the shift toward beauty as wellbeing, and they’ve built campaigns with emotional and cultural resonance”.
Annabelle Sacher, head of PR, explained: “The majority of the fastest growing beauty brands over the past quarter have one key strategy nailed: each has implemented multi-channel brand activations rooted in cultural relevance, innovation, and effective retail strategies.”
Retailer strategies
Boots’ 1.22% rise in share of brand search reflects its dual positioning across both healthcare and beauty while Space NK’s 0.5% increase in share of brand search has been driven by experiential retail, with its hyper-local store expansions, interactive events and curated brand collaborations.
Sephora’s uplift “has been supported by strong gifting activity, high-profile collaborations and socially driven product pushes”.
But the report added: “However, [Sephora’s] recent Christmas campaign featuring Mariah Carey, which contributed to an increase in search interest, also prompted criticism from consumers who felt the creative misjudged the mood during a challenging economic period.”
While the brand saw a modest 0.33% rise in share of search, the reaction highlights that not all visibility translates into positive sentiment, and cultural awareness remains essential”.
Sacher concluded: “These gains position the brands well for the critical Christmas period by amplifying brand desirability, driving online demand. For similar beauty brands, key takeaways include the effectiveness of integrated campaigns underpinned by culturally resonant storytelling that connects with consumer emotions, reinforcing brand visibility, authority and demand.
“Ultimately, the majority of this quarter’s fastest growing brands illustrate that well-rounded brand-building tactics – blending innovation, personalisation, and cultural relevance – translate into measurable growth and increase the likelihood of commercial impact.”
As for the future, the report said the sector “belongs to skin-centric, culture-led beauty”.
“As Christmas approaches, the brands best positioned to win are those who understand that beauty is no longer just about pigments, palettes and glam. Today’s consumers want skincare backed by science, make-up that feels like skincare and identity-driven expression”.
Jacky Lovato, head of Content at MediaVision concluded: “Consumers are blending technology, creativity and experimentation into their daily routines. The rise in skincare-led searches – from high-tech devices to gentle, skin-enhancing make-up – shows that wellness, individuality and daily rituals are driving demand. The glam-heavy ‘Brat Era’ is giving way to a softer, more expressive, skin-first aesthetic.
“This evolution is empowering retailers and brands that can respond quickly to real-time demand – especially those whose ranges span make-up, skincare and beauty tech.”
A host of celebrities and high-end brands have donating goods to ensure Savile Row’s latest annual ‘Pop-Up Crisis’ store will continue to support the Crisis charity event that has so far raised over £650,000 since 2018.
Image: Crisis charity
Across 8-13 December, the pop-up store at 18-19 Savile Row in London’s Mayfair will sell a curated selection of designer clothing, past stock and samples from luxury brands.
Celebs donating goods include Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Naomie Harris, David Gandy, Jarvis Cocker, Louis Partridge, Jamie Redknapp and Emma Corrin, among others, for a week-long event and raffle with all proceeds going to help end homelessness across Britain.
Hosted by landlord The Pollen Estate, the temporary shop is also selling designer goods donated by Savile Row tailors including Mr Porter, Wales Bonner, Crockett & Jones and many other luxury brands from Barbour, Tod’s to Manolo Blahnik and Watches of Switzerland Group.
This year, celebrity model and fashion entrepreneur David Gandy will also be curating an exclusive online edit on shopfromcrisis.com, including donations from his own wardrobe as well as items from friends including Redknapp’s brand Sandbanks, Hackett and Aspinal of London.
Gandy said: “Having supported Crisis for a number of years, I’m delighted to have had the opportunity to curate my own online edit this year with the help of some of my close friends. It means a lot to know that donations from my own wardrobe are going towards such an important cause. Whether you’re looking for the perfect Christmas gift or to treat yourself, your purchase can help make a real difference to people facing homelessness this Christmas.”
Liz Choonara, executive director of Commerce and Enterprise at Crisis, added: “Pop-Up Crisis is such an iconic event in the Crisis calendar and one that we look forward to every year. We’re thrilled to be partnering with the team once again for another week celebrating the iconic craftsmanship and style of Savile Row – with all proceeds going towards our crucial work to end homelessness.”
Specialist outdoor clothing producer Dryrobe has won a trademark case against a smaller label. The win for the business, which produces waterproof towel-lined robes used by cold water swimmers, means the offending rival must now stop selling items under the D-Robe brand within a week.
Image: Dryrobe
A judge at the high court in London ruled the company was guilty of passing off its D-Robe changing robes and other goods as Dryrobe products and knew it was infringing its bigger rival’s trademark reports, The Guardian newspaper.
The company said it has rigorously defended its brand against being used generically by publications and makers of similar clothing and is expected to seek compensation from D-Robe’s owners for trademark infringement.
Dryrobe was created by the former financier Gideon Bright as an outdoor changing robe for surfers in 2010 and became the signature brand of the wild swimming craze.
Sales increased from £1.3 million in 2017 to £20.3 million in 2021 and it made profits of £8 million. However, by 2023 sales had fallen back to £18 million as the passion for outdoor sports waned and the brand faced more competition.
Bright told the newspaper the legal win was a “great result” for Dryrobe as there were “quite a lot of copycat products and [the owners] immediately try to refer to them using our brand name”.
He said the company was now expanding overseas and moving into a broader range of products, adding that sales were similar to 2023 as “a lot of competition has come in”.
On Friday, France demanded a series of measures from Shein to demonstrate that the products sold on its website comply with the law, but dropped its initial request for a total three-month suspension of the online platform, which had been based on the sale of child-like sex dolls and prohibited weapons.
Shutterstock
At a hearing before the Paris court, a lawyer representing the state said that Shein must implement controls on its website, including age verification and filtering, to ensure that minors cannot access pornographic content. The state asked the court to impose a suspension of Shein’s marketplace until Shein has provided proof to Arcom, the French communications regulator, that these controls have been implemented.
Shein deactivated its marketplace- where third-party sellers offer their products- in France on November 5, after authorities discovered illegal items for sale, but its site selling Shein-branded clothing remains accessible. The state invoked Article 6.3 of France’s Digital Economy Act, which empowers judges to order measures to prevent or halt harm caused by online content.
“We don’t claim to be here to replace the European Commission,” the state’s lawyer said. “We are not here today to regulate; we are here to prevent harm, in the face of things that are unacceptable.” At the time of writing, the hearing is still ongoing.
In a statement issued last week, the Paris public prosecutor’s office said that a three-month suspension could be deemed “disproportionate” in light of European Court of Human Rights case law if Shein could prove that it had ceased all sales of illegal products. However, the public prosecutor’s office said it “fully supported” the government’s request that Shein provide evidence of the measures taken to stop such sales.
France’s decision comes against a backdrop of heightened scrutiny of Chinese giants such as Shein and Temu under the EU’s Digital Services Act, reflecting concerns about consumer safety, the sale of illegal products, and unfair competition. In the US, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said on Monday that he was investigating Shein to determine whether the fast-fashion retailer had violated state law relating to unethical labour practices and the sale of dangerous consumer products.
This article is an automatic translation. Click here to read the original article.
Politics8 years ago