Superdrug is to host its first Open House event, giving new beauty brands the opportunity to talk to the health and beauty specialist about launching their products onto the high street, with the retailer
Buying Director Simon Comins, and his senior commercial team, are hoping to speak to brands, whether premium and interested in Superdrug‘s prestige stores, small and thinking about taking the leap into national distribution, or simply someone wanting to showcase an innovative idea to a group of experts.
“We are looking forward to seeing potential new suppliers showcase their products and discovering some great new talent that we can help nurture and grow with Superdrug,” Comins commented. “We understand that working with large companies such as ours can seem daunting to smaller companies so we decided to throw open our doors to allow people the chance to meet the team and showcase their products in a new more informal way.”
Gemma Mason, Head of Customer Experience said, “This is the first time we‘ve taken this approach, but it‘s open to all types of supplier”. The British retailer isn‘t looking for a particular hair or beauty product. “We aim to meet whatever the needs and wants are of our customer” Mason added.
Mason emphasised how important customers and their current brand interests are to Superdrug, saying “whether that is focusing on key ingredients, such as vegan products which are very important to our customers at the moment” or helping emerging brands get access to Superdrug‘s portfolio of beauty contacts, make-up artists, suppliers and developers or just using Superdrug as a platform to share an idea.
Superdrug appeals to a range of audiences, stocking everyday essentials, premium brands and in-house exclusives such as Paul‘s Boutique Beauty, Lottie London, Tanya Burr, MUA Makeup Academy and Zoella Beauty. Its like-for-like sales were up 4.7% in 2014, while its online business experienced an impressive year, with like-for-like sales up by 65%.
The Open House will be on April 29, in Central London.
