Strong demand for Christmas beauty products drives Boots sales higher

Strong demand for beauty products over Christmas helped Boots record a jump in sales over the past quarter.

The pharmacy and retail business revealed that overall sales rose by around 11% in the UK over the three months to February 28, driven by its retail arm.

It came as US parent firm Walgreens Boots Alliance saw its quarterly profit slide by more than 20%, largely due to a sharp drop in volumes of Covid-19 vaccines and tests.

On Tuesday, the group said its UK Boots operation, which it had planned to sell last year before a dramatic U-turn, has positively supported profit through higher retail sales, but also highlighted a knock-on effect from lower demand for coronavirus-related services.

Boots retail sales leapt by 16% over the latest quarter compared with the same period last year.

The business said the eight quarters of consecutive growth were led by sales of beauty products, helping to drive a spike in transactions in the key Christmas period.

Skincare recorded “three consecutive weeks of record sales” during December amid strong demand for brands such as No7, La Roche-Posay and CeraVe, it said.

It was buoyed by continued growth in shopper footfall, which increased by 16% over the quarter.

However, strong retail sales growth was partly offset by a smaller 2% increase in its pharmacy business.

Sebastian James, managing director of Boots UK & ROI, said: “More people are choosing to shop with Boots, largely thanks to our focus on value and our market-leading beauty offer.

“This is reflected in our strong retail sales performance and our continuing market share growth, particularly in terms of Christmas trading.

“We also delivered an increase in pharmacy sales, despite the challenging sector backdrop.

“I would like to thank our wonderful team members for their continued hard work and focus on delivering for our customers.”