Think of UK beauty retailers and three camps probably come to mind: online behemoths that stock thousands of products (think Lookfantastic and Cult Beauty), so-called ‘drugstores’ like Superdrug and Boots; and luxury experiences including Harrods, Selfridges and Space NK. For many years, there was a hard line between each of these, with big department stores catering mostly to a London-centric audience, offering products outside of beauty, while online retailers focused on speed and variety, and high street stores targeted lower price points. But over the past decade, that line has started to blur.
In 2023, when LVMH-owned Sephora, opened its first UK store in Westfield White City (following the acquisition of Feelunique two years prior), we saw a significant shift. Covering 6,000sq. ft, the store currently stocks over 135 brands; it has exclusive deals with the likes of Fenty Beauty and ILIA, as well as offering luxury brands such as Dior and Chanel. Before opening, Sephora spent its first two years building on its digital presence and cementing its rebrand, so by the time its first store opened, it had solidified its position in the UK beauty landscape.
“Sephora was now the go-to UK beauty destination, the physical store legitimising it as an authority in the space to local consumers and proving that demand for an interactive experience was high.”
But it didn’t rest on its laurels; elevating the shopping experience so the store became a destination, offering make-up applications by professional make-up artists, skincare consultations, fragrance engraving and mini treatments. The aim was an interactive and personalised experience, with the company investing around £2m – £3m per year on rent for the floor space in Westfield.
And it worked. When the store opened, hundreds of people stood in a queue that stretched around the shopping centre, waiting for hours to see the new space for themselves. It was clear – Sephora was now the go-to UK beauty destination, the physical store legitimising it as an authority in the space to local consumers and proving that demand for an interactive experience was high.
Despite being the biggest retail launch in recent years, Sephora wasn’t the first to make a play for bricks-and-mortar beauty. When figures showed that the demand for luxury beauty was increasing during covid, Harrods made a move. In September 2020, just after the first lockdown lifted in England, it launched its first H Beauty store at Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex, building on the mass exodus from London during this time. It offered services that played into Harrods’ luxury reputation, without the traditional version of luxury that Harrods itself might offer, encouraging both a younger and less familiar demographic to interact with the brand in its new, modern spaces. Inside, there aren’t just brands but also a champagne bar, in-store treatments and personalised beauty consultations through the beauty concierge. Just like Sephora, this was a success, with six more stores opening nationwide and beauty now accounting for nearly 15% of Harrods’ overall revenue.
Just yesterday, Lookfantastic followed in Sephora and Harrods’ footsteps by opening its first ever beauty concept store. The space itself has similarities to H Beauty and Sephora; it acts as an interactive showroom for 90 of the retailer’s 660 plus brands, whilst also housing Colour Wow’s first salon and hosting pop-ups every month for customers. But it’s the location that sets Lookfantastic’s first ever physical store apart, having opened in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, not London.
When other recently launched beauty-only retailers like Sephora and, more recently, Boots’ store at Battersea Power Station, have based themselves in the capital, why is Lookfantastic setting up shop in the North West?
For starters, if we were to compare the cost of Sephora’s estimated annual rent in Westfield White City to the 5392sq. ft space of Lookfantastic’s store, the difference is significant. But more broadly, Lookfantastic basing itself away from the capital is, in reality, a huge commercial opportunity. With an increasing demand for exceptional retail experiences outside of London, other retailers are also noticing the extent of commercial opportunities through regional expansion. Space NK, the Manzanita Capital backed luxury beauty retailer with 73 stores in the UK, has set out a strategy for nationwide expansion with the opening of a new store in Milton Keynes this November, which follows the launch of new stores in Dublin, Southhampton and Manchester (the home of the brand’s new flagship).
H Beauty is deploying a similar playbook, with six stores now open in Essex, Milton Keynes, Edinburgh, Bristol, Newcastle and Leeds. By creating touchpoints across the country, each store has tailored products and experiences to the specific community and demographic. With Lookfantastic leading the way in beauty retail foregoing London altogether, this shift is one to keep an eye on.
Fundamentally, in-store experiences are an invaluable marketing tool for beauty retailers and because beauty stores have made themselves destinations, customers are no longer just popping to the shops when they run out of shampoo or fancy trying a new concealer. They’re able to feel and try products, speak to trained experts and create a personalised shopping experience for themselves. Who would have thought Boots could position itself as a destination for luxury beauty brands, or that Lookfantastic would be the only place to go for a Colour Wow blow dry?
The fact that this kind of luxury, experiential shopping isn’t just focused on London anymore offers a huge opportunity for retailers to capitalise on demand across the country, opening them up to new demographics, and therefore, new business. So, how will retail concepts evolve to have points of differentiation, and how will the demands of the customer push these concepts even further as they vie for attention in the increasingly competitive world of omni-channel beauty?