Boots has notched up its ninth consecutive quarter of market share growth in its third quarter as its No7 wonder cream launch helped to boost sales.
The health and beauty specialist’s sales jumped 13.4% in the three months to 31 May with the No7 Future Renew range a star performer.
When it launched in April, a product was sold every two seconds from the skincare range, deemed Boots’ ‘most powerful’ anti-ageing cream, with more than half a million purchases in the four weeks that followed.
This led to the No7 range having an “exceptional quarter” driven by the success of its new Future Renew range, with beauty sales up over 18% year on year. Boots achieved its biggest week in beauty outside of Christmas in May.
Customers shop at Boots “more often”
Growth over the quarter was largely driven by volume, “with more customers shopping at Boots more often”.
City centre flagship and travel stores saw the biggest increase in transactions, as it said footfall in its stores grew 6.9% ahead of the 2.8% achieved across the wider retail market.
Online sales also thrived, with revenues up 25.2%.
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The retailer‘s value initiatives, including its expanded Price Advantage scheme, have had a “positive customer response”.
Its new 10% discount across Boots own brand lines launched for Advantage Card members led to a 65% increase in sign-ups to the loyalty scheme.
Meanwhile, sales volumes in its ‘Everyday’ essentials label surged 40%.
Healthcare also performed well over the quarter, with pharmacy sales up 5.7%, the best performance in six quarters as hay fever season began.
Boots UK and ROI managing director Seb James said: “Our focus on offering our customers the best in healthcare and beauty, together with a continued commitment to great value, has been well received, and it is lovely to see more people choosing to shop with Boots.
“It is particularly pleasing to see our owned brands proving popular, including an exceptional No7 performance.”
Consolidation continues
The retailer said its transformation plan had created a “strong and stable platform for growth” and promised ongoing investment to “rejuvenate its store estate”.
Boots plans to “uplift” existing stores and said it would continue to “consolidate a number of stores in close proximity to each other”.
It said: “Evolving the store estate in this way allows Boots to concentrate its team members where they are needed and focus investment more acutely in individual stores with the ambition of consistently delivering an excellent and reliable service in a fresh and up to date environment.”
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