Superdrug’s Christmas sales were boosted by the trend of people switching from expensive brands to own-label alternatives to reduce their rising living costs.
The health and beauty retailer’s sales grew 9.2 percent in December. Like-for-like, they grew 7.1%. The company’s own-brand products saw a 10 percent increase in sales year-over-year, claiming that consumers were switching to “affordable”, cosmetics, perfumes and oral hygiene.
Studio London was Superdrug’s fastest-growing, largest own-brand line. It drove a 20 percent growth year-on-year in the cosmetics sector. The retailer has a 40% market share in mass-market cosmetics. This is its highest level in 10 years.
Superdrug reported that it sold three gift sets of its own label every second, and three fragrances every minute, in the weeks before Christmas. The most popular brands were Ariana Grande Versace Eros Flame, and Calvin Klein Euphoria. The demand for cosmetics was particularly high, as sales had previously been affected by consumers switching from make-up to skincare due to the pandemic.
Simon Comins said that the lipstick effect was a benefit to the retailer. The chain has over 780 stores across Britain and Ireland. You can see that our cosmetics have recovered from the Covid years. He said that people are treating themselves more. The “lipstick” effect, coined Leonard Lauder the chairman emeritus at Estee Lauder refers to consumers cutting back on expensive luxury products in favor of cheaper indulgent items during inflationary periods.
According to Superdrug, oral care products were also in demand during the Christmas season. Superdrug’s ProCare water flannel led the category with sales that were more than three-times higher than those of its brand counterpart.