The 20 biggest beauty retailers dominating the UK market

The beauty segment was one of the fastest-growing categories in the UK in 2022/23. The top five players alone added £1bn in sales over the last year as cash-strapped consumers bought affordable luxuries. With the UK beauty market is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.7% to 2027, Retail Week takes a look at the top 20 players in the country right now.

The winner 

Amid speculation of a potential sale or London IPO, Boots tops the charts this year helped by its heritage, vast store estate and focus on loyalty and value. 

Kate Doherty, senior retail analyst at Lumina Intelligence, says: “Boots has continued to evolve under its enduring status as a trusted household name, albeit at an arguably slower pace than was necessary to keep the ever-growing competition firmly at bay.”

The last year saw a host of new beauty players, including French cosmetics giant Sephora, enter or re-enter the UK beauty market. The likes of Superdrug, Space NK and Rituals upped their market share and invested heavily in expanding and enhancing physical retail, pressuring Boots to do the same. 

The retailer opened its first beauty-only store in London’s Battersea Power Station in December 2023 to “solidify its position as the UK’s number one beauty destination” and said it would be looking at expanding the format to other areas of the country.

Doherty says: “Beauty has been at the heart of Boots’ modernisation with over 170 of its beauty halls having been reinvented and the retailer adopting a speedy intake of cult brands.  

“However, Boots’ modernisation is not yet complete with the scale of the estate bringing its own challenges in consistency with some stores still in need of an upgrade, particularly when pitted against Sephora’s cool design.” 

With over 17 million active members, Boots Advantage Card remains the largest beauty loyalty scheme in the country. The retailer has strengthened its value offering by expanding its price advantage scheme to over 2,000 products.

But the real strength of the Advantage Card is the access to invaluable consumer data it gives Boots, says Doherty. 

“Boots continues to gather enviable data through its Advantage Card loyalty programme, providing it with huge opportunities around personalisation and expanding its ecosystem.

“As it continues to build towards a truly omnichannel model, Boots still has significant potential for growth as long as new generations of consumers recognise the retailer as a trusted one-stop proposition for all their health and beauty needs,” she says.

The battle for second place 

Boots may dominate the UK’s beauty market but the battle for second place is the one to watch. 

Superdrug has this year emerged in second, overtaking global cosmetics giant L’Oréal, helped greatly by its keen focus on value and affordability as cash-strapped consumers turned to mass-market budget lines.

The retailer has been increasing its market share as it grows its omnichannel strategy by investing in its store estate while also enhancing its online offering, including a VIP rewards scheme, in its continued push for value.

Doherty says the retailer is helped massively by its parent company AS Watson. 

“Superdrug continues to reap the advantages of AS Watson’s economies of scale when it comes to sourcing and investment, having benefited from group digital investment bringing new technology across the business.”

Like Boots, Superdrug also stands to benefit from pressures on the NHS and the gap left by the shutting of Lloydspharmacy, since opening NHS Pharmacy First services across its stores nationwide.

Doherty adds: “The launch of the Superdrug marketplace online has also enabled Superdrug to rapidly increase its range without infrastructure-related complications and to test consumer response to new and established brands. “ 

All about the experience 

As beauty retailers raced to increase their market share, the year saw an increase in investment in physical retail.

From Boots and Superdrug to Sephora, Space NK and Rituals, retailers are investing in treatment rooms and beauty services, including skincare advice from experts, in their stores to enhance consumer experience.

As Westfield shopping centres in London paved the way for the return of Sephora to the UK, existing beauty players have also upsized their stores to offer the best beauty experience to customers. 

Kate Orwin, leasing director atUnibail-Rodamco-Westfield, says: “Health and beauty was definitely – and continues to be – one of the best-performing categories. It has been a complete resurgence and the closure of Debenhams and House of Fraser across the country left a big vacuum for beauty – and also for good health and beauty. 

“Sephora coming in was just an absolute delight. It does restore your faith in physical retail when you’ve got 5,000 people waiting to get into one store. I mean, my goodness! But the same for Space NK opening, PureSeoul – and Boots, of course, pulled up their socks.”

Smell of success

Fragrance emerged as one of the fastest-growing categories in beauty as retailers like The Perfume Shop, The Fragrance Shop and Jo Malone London (part of Estée Lauder Companies) benefited from a boost in demand.

Even as the luxury segment enters the period of softness, luxury fragrance continues to grow. Jo Dancey, senior vice president and global general manager at Jo Malone London, says this is because of a shift in consumer attitude towards the category.

She says: “Since Covid, people have started to look at fragrance as self-care rather than for impressing others and I think that’s a big part. The other element that has developed over a slightly longer time is the concept of fragrance wardrobing.

“If you go back 10 or 15 years or maybe longer, my parents had a fragrance that was their fragrance. But now people don’t have one fragrance. They have different fragrances for different moments in the day and we see a lot of that happening”