Skincare products drive positive festive sales at Feelunique

Sales at Feelunique increased by 39% to £28m in the 12 weeks to 3 January, as the beauty e-commerce platform benefited from soaring demand for skincare products.

The e-tailer, which offers a wide range of brands through its retail and marketplace channels, also saw active customers grow by 41% to more than 1.3 million at the end of the quarter.

Website visits also rose by 86%.

Skincare products led the sales charge over the period, with one skincare product sold every 10 seconds.

Sales of retinol-based products rose by 145% while sales of dermatologist-approved skincare were up by 174% as customers looked to replicate professional-standard treatments at home during lockdown.

The company, which now expects to exceed £100m in sales and achieve positive EBITDA for its financial year ended 31 March 2021, plans to add more brands and exclusive ranges to its platform throughout 2021 and drive sales through its marketplace channel, which saw sales rise more than ten-fold against the prior year over the last quarter.

Make up sales also delivered double-digit sales growth in the quarter, despite the cancellation of Christmas parties and consumers staying home.

Gifting items also performed well, in particular the Feelunique advent calendar which included more than £270 worth of beauty products for £89 and sold 10,000 editions in the lead up to Christmas.

Feelunique chief executive Sarah Miles said: “We’re delighted to report a very strong sales performance during the quarter, capping what was a transformational 2020 for Feelunique.

“We have achieved rapid growth in revenue and new customers over the past 12 months.

“This progress has been supported by investments in our technology and our focus on expanding the number of brands available through our platform.”