Follow us

The Interview in partnership with CEW: Sandra Vallow, Director of Beauty Merchandising, QVC UK

Sophie Smith
09 December 2024

In this exclusive monthly interview series in partnership with CEW, we'll feature one of CEW UK's executive board members, to gain insights into their careers and views on what being a business leader in today's beauty industry means to them.

QVC UK is a multi-channel shopping destination, retailing across the UK and Northern Ireland. The QVC Group is a leader in video commerce ("vCommerce"), which includes video-driven shopping across linear TV, e-commerce sites, digital streaming, and social platforms.

With a growing offering on the platform, beauty performs particularly well for QVC UK, bolstered by brands from Elemis and Molton Brown to Philip Kingsley, Murad, Sunday Riley, and more.

In this exclusive interview with TheIndustry.beauty, Sandra Vallow, Director of Merchandising for Beauty, speaks about the importance of the industry, the biggest opportunities and challenges in the sector today, the process of bringing brands onto QVC UK, the trends she's seeing across beauty, and more.

Have you always had an interest in the beauty industry? Why does it appeal to you and why did you want to work within it?

Having studied economics at university and being told by my parents many times that I was extremely good at spending money, my heart became set on retail buying. I have to say this did not go down particularly well with my tutor at the time, who would have much preferred me to say investment banking or management consultancy in line with most people on my course!

To be honest, fashion was where I had my eye, menswear in fact, probably still to this day one of the only areas I have never worked in! My passion for beauty was more of a hobby at this stage, but I quickly learnt that if you are at work for so much of your day why not make your work your hobby and enjoy every minute.  So that's what I did and I have never looked back. Beauty is an ever-changing industry; it never suffers from a lack of innovation and it gives people the feel-good factor.  I have worked in the industry for over 20 years now and it never stops exciting me.

CEW UK promotes the British beauty industry, why is this important? What do you think sets the British beauty industry apart from other markets worldwide?

Often a forgotten industry, especially by the UK Government, CEW does an amazing job of raising the profile of this huge industry in the UK. Employing such a wide variety of roles from finance and marketing to retail consultants, we need to promote the industry and encourage experience and young blood into beauty to ensure we remain such a dynamic force. I learnt first-hand that it is not always top of mind as a career choice and CEW helps to raise the profile and credibility of beauty.  The British beauty industry embodies innovation, in products, ingredients and marketing. We have an extremely knowledgeable British beauty customer, and as such, the industry is ever-changing. The number of new brands every year never ceases to amaze me. We should be proud of our British heritage brands and showcase them around the world and CEW gives a platform for this.

Why did you join CEW UK? Do you have any highlight moments from being part of this?

The industry itself is full of inspiriting women and CEW enables us to get together and support each other. I always say that beauty is a small industry with a great deal of familiar faces, and much of this has to be accredited to the work of CEW.  Sallie and her team’s ambition is to get together and shout about our amazing industry, and we can do this so much better together.

I have been lucky enough over my time on the CEW board to meet some amazing individuals and be involved in some really relevant events - from the 2-Way Mentoring programme giving mentees the opportunity to be paired with industry experts, offering valuable insights and support in the industry. Also, one of CEW’s most popular events for The Young Executive Programme is 'Meet the Board', which is a unique opportunity for members to meet senior beauty executives from every facet of the beauty industry and ask the questions that they have always wanted to ask. This one is always fun - you have to be on your toes to keep up with the questions! I was also honoured to be included in the Beauty Gamechanger publication recently with CEW and the MBS group. CEW is just an amazing opportunity to build expansive industry networks.

What do you think are the biggest opportunities and challenges in the beauty sector today?

Like all of retail, economic uncertainty is always a challenge, but as we like to reference ‘The Lipstick Effect’ talks to how customers still continue to invest in beauty through these times.  What we have seen is the move to purchasing lower price pointed versions or ‘dupes’ of beauty icons as a socially acceptable approach to buying beauty. This movement in the US has already started to venture over to the UK and something beauty retailers need to be very aware of as we go into 2025.

The beauty industry as a whole has also changed significantly over the years and now we are seeing many more promotions to drive sales and market share. Gone are the days of beauty being excluded on those big shopping event days. The industry has to be more agile than ever in reacting, and building customer relationships will be key in ensuring brand and retailer loyalty and trust.

What key skills do you need to have as a leader today, in general and in beauty?

Well, it starts with being enthusiastic and passionate. In my case, beauty is my true passion. I strongly believe you need your own leadership brand whilst being approachable. Strategic decision making is key, and in this day and age, being quick about those decisions is a definite skill. When team members ask me "How do I become a leader?", I say it is important to become visible, make yourself known and be that go to person. You also need to have your own personal boardroom – the people that support you on your journey, whether they are your boss, your partner or contacts in the industry. Overall, the traits of a true leader with high potential are curiosity in all that they do, a drive to succeed, the courage to tell their own story whilst having influence, high impact, and resilience, which is really important when things don’t go to plan.

Why is it important that people pursue entrepreneurship or senior leadership roles in their careers?

It is so important to have female role models. We need to amplify women’s voices and CEW is a massive supporter of this. Push yourselves outside of your comfort zone to achieve your best. Don’t look at barriers, look at opportunities. Say yes to things that scare you!  Know what you are great at and maximise. Be that role model to inspire so we can build this great beauty industry to be even better.

How can people be encouraged to pursue entrepreneurship or senior leadership roles in their careers?

Build relationships across the industry, build out your network of support. I mention resilience before, taking on board challenging feedback is always hard but this is what will help you the most in progressing your career. Listen to the feedback and make actions based on this. Learn to put on your ‘feedback’ face if you find it hard to take!

What beauty categories perform best for QVC UK? Why do you think this is?

In my time at QVC, we have grown the beauty business by over 50%. Skincare is heartland of our beauty offering, making up over 20% of total QVC UK sales. Overall, beauty performs extremely well for QVC UK.

We are very targeted with our customer base of Gen X women. Education is our USP at QVC, whether this is on ingredients, delivery technique or unique componentry, our extremely knowledgeable customers want the detail and our experts are able to share this. This all helps to empower our customer with the knowledge they need to make an informed purchase.

Our bestsellers are not generally the same as the brands high street bestsellers. Some products don’t come to life on a shelf, but when demonstrated by our guest experts and presenters, they really resonate with our audience.  As such, we have a highly engaged QVC customer.

We’ve heard from a number of our brands that following launching at QVC, they have seen the highest volume of searches for their brand’s name since the search engine’s records began – both locally in the UK and internationally.

Are there any consumer beauty trends you’re seeing?

Well-being, mindfulness and beauty from within. We have seen a significant rise in beauty supplements and the importance of your beauty regime as a wellbeing ritual. For QVC, brands like Neom and The Naked Pharmacy have offered our customers a more holistic approach to their beauty regimes, something we will see continue and build into 2025 I am sure.

Efficacious skincare for long-term health of women in midlife.  Menopause Your Way is one of QVC UK's key initiatives, where we have striven to not only provide symptom-easing products but also education and advice to support our customer through midlife and her menopause journey. This has been a real success story for us, building trust with our customers in this very personal and often sensitive area and providing solutions-based products targeting areas from sexual wellness to skin changes and haircare.

Revival of nostalgic beauty products. For 2025, the QVC Beauty Heroes campaign will be running to celebrate some of these iconic products throughout the year. Watch this space!

What is the process like bringing brands onto QVC UK? What do you look for? Any advice for brands?

The customer is at the heart of what we do, so we have the customer in mind with every new brand we consider.

We are interested in new stories, innovation, and something that stands out from our current portfolio. More so than ever, it is important that each of our brands have their own unique brand positioning and reason for being within the portfolio.  But my buying team is always on the lookout, so if you think your brand could appeal to our customer demographic, we would love to hear from you.

Read last month's interview featuring Hind Sebti, Founder of Whind here.

 

In proud partnership with

CEW logo


Free NewsletterVISIT TheIndustry.fashion
cross