John Lewis sprinkles ‘magic dust’ in new-look beauty hall

Beauty retailers across the board have been performing well, as seen from the results reported by specialists such as Boots and Superdrug, and Marks & Spencer’s efforts to win share.

Also a powerful player in the category is department store group John Lewis, which has just unveiled a new-look beauty hall at its Liverpool branch. It heralded the debut of singer Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty brand with the retailer, as well as other big names in the category only available in the city from John Lewis, such as Trinny London.

Beauty accounts for approximately 20% of sales at John Lewis. After Oxford Street, John Lewis Liverpool draws the highest number of beauty shoppers across the business so it was an obvious choice to be first in line for the revamped beauty hall, which will ultimately be replicated across the retailer’s estate.

John Lewis chief commercial officer Vikki Kavanagh says that John Lewis “over-indexes” in beauty in stores such as Liverpool, and as a result draws more younger shoppers as well as established customers. That helps it extend its appeal. And almost all customers buy beauty, unlike some other categories.

Beauty is also well suited to traditional John Lewis strengths, such as its ability to provide high standards of service and advice, and the experiential appeal of good department stores.

In the new-model beauty hall there is much more emphasis on interaction with staff at open counters. “It’s all about sensory experience, that’s our magic dust,” says Kavanagh of the transformed beauty hall. “This is a fantastic example of how we can show up for customers.”

It’s an approach that should enable John Lewis to key into beauty trends, such as interest in premium fragrances that start at £120 or interest in clinical skincare where the retailer offers one-to-one treatment.

Consumer interest in beauty – evident in social media trends such as ‘fragtalk’ for fragrances – also leads John Lewis chiefs to see opportunity for online and bricks-and-mortar to complement each other. A shopper might go in-store first to find products they like, then buy them again online. Or, interest piqued on sites such as TikTok or Instagram, they will go into shops to check out a brand and find out more from well-informed staff.

“It’s a real sign of life at John Lewis”

Clive Black, Shore Capital analyst

Kavanagah is confident that beauty will continue to perform well for JL. She says: “The analytics show it will continue to outperform the general market. Do we think we’ll continue on the same trajectory? Yes, because of the experiential and service [offererd by John Lewis]. We go from very accessible all the way up to luxury, and some of our competitors don’t bridge that width.

“Some of our beauty partners are part of big holding organisations that we have various other relationships with, and that always helps us compared with those [competitors] who are not department stores.”

Shore Capital analyst Clive Black, who knows Liverpool well and visited the new John Lewis beauty hall, welcomed the retailer’s investment in the city, which mirrors that of other leading retailers including JD Sports, Frasers Group’s Flannels and beauty specialist Sephora.

He said of the John Lewis beauty proposition: “I was really impressed by the brands they’ve chosen, the exclusivity and the customer service so I think they’re on to a winner. It’s a real sign of life at John Lewis.”

Savvy Marketing chief executive Catherine Shuttleworth, who also visited the store, said: “Shoppers aren’t tired of good department stores and there’s huge appetite for the experiential. In big cites outside of London they still have a very important part to play. You have to invest to keep up with the shopper they have here to positive effect, and that should drive revenue across the store. There was real sense of pace and excitement.”