Boots to launch re-invented small-format beauty halls across UK

Boots UK is to launch 30 new small format beauty halls in high-street stores across the country, as it continues to invest in growing its beauty offer and improving consumer access to cult and celebrity brands.

The re-invented small-format halls offer a miniaturised version of Boots' large-store beauty hall concept which is currently offered in 60 of its flagship sites, including London’s Covent Garden.

The new halls will feature ‘trending zones’, ‘discovery areas’ and consultation spaces, as well as a far broader range of products from cult brands such as Drunk Elephant, Fenty Beauty and MAC.

The move comes as Boots continues to focus on expanding its beauty brand portfolio, with 65 new lines (including Anastasia Beverly Hills, UOMA Beauty and Bite Beauty) added since the start of lockdown.

More than 100 new Boots Beauty Specialist roles will also be created to support the new smaller format beauty halls, as Boots seeks to deliver enhanced in-store customer service.

Boots Beauty Specialist advisors will offer customers free, personalised, brand-neutral beauty and skin care advice.

The development comes amid a surge in beauty sales via Boots stores and online since the easing of lockdown, with sales up 85% in the three months ended 31 May compared to the same period the previous year.

The health and beauty retailer’s market-share for premium makeup and premium skin is now also at its highest on record, with Boots currently recording “strong sales” of its celebrity beauty lines such as Fenty Beauty and Anastasia Beverly Hills, it said.

Boots UK managing director Seb James added: “We are so pleased to launch even more reinvented beauty halls on UK high streets, furthering our position as the UK’s number one for beauty.

“While our online sales continue to grow, the in-store experience is still hugely important, which is why we have continued to invest in our new-look beauty halls throughout the pandemic and beyond.

“As we are now out of lockdown and life is starting to look more normal, I am confident that our beautiful new beauty halls will help to drive more footfall into Boots as well as to local high streets more broadly.”

The launch forms part of Boots ongoing transformation strategy built around a growing digital proposition that complements its multi-format store footprint.

Today, Boots products and services are available at over 1,200 pharmacies, over 1,000 high street and local stores, 37 flagship stores and 26 airport stores across the UK.

Next Day Click & Collect is also available at over 2,200 stores.

Boots opened 19 new stores during 2020 and 2021 including in Edinburgh St James and London The Strand.