The British Beauty Battle: Why Are There So Many Retailers?

Beauty shopping in the UK is anything but intuitive. You can find luxury brands at Boots, a pharmacy, or Harrods, a luxury department store, or shop them online at Look Fantastic, an e-commerce retailer. But why is the market so fragmented?

Over the last five years, online beauty retail boomed but has faced rising customer acquisition costs. Companies like Walgreens Boots Alliance (owner of Boots) have struggled, while luxury department stores have doubled down on beauty. To top it off, after a 17-year hiatus, Sephora re-entered the market by acquiring Feelunique to expand their physical presence.

In this episode, we break down these complexities and offer insights on how to navigate this competitive and ever-evolving beauty retail market.

This episode is supported by a series of graphs and visual aids to help narrate this complex story. You can access those resources at barefaced.substack.com.

You can find Barefaced everywhere else here—beacons.ai/barefaced

Get full access to barefaced at barefaced.substack.com/subscribe