The Perfume Shop to trial Superdrug tie-up

The retailer’s national advertising manager Michelle D’vaz told Retail Week: “We want to take that number one slot and the shop-in-shops will help us achieve this, alongside opening more standalone stores and marketing the brand.”

At present, Boots is the leader in perfume, but D’vaz said The Perfume Shop is “a close second”, despite having just a fraction of the store numbers of the market leader. The Perfume Shop has 179 stores, while Boots has some 2,500.

From the end of July, The Perfume Shop will start rolling out shop-in-shops in Superdrug, both of which are owned by AS Watson. It will trial 11 shop-in-shops in locations including Aylesbury, Milton Keynes, Bury, Glasgow, Westfield London and Kensington High Street.

Each of Superdrug’s existing fragrance counters will be refurbished and rebadged with The Perfume Shop’s branding. The counters will also be staffed by The Perfume Shop employees. The range of fragrances will differ according local needs.

D’vaz said The Perfume Shop will also launch another TV campaign this Christmas, following its first last year. The campaign will be based on products, using its percentage-off marketing.

She said the retailer has recorded flat like-for-likes for the first half of the year, but added: “There haven’t been any big perfume launches in the first half so that affects us, but for the second half there are some amazing launches and we are confident that we will finish the year well.”

New launches for the second half include Marc Jacobs Bang and Paco Rabanne Lady Million. She said: “Lots of brands have really upped their product innovation for Christmas so there will be a lot of newness and that’s key for business.”

D’vaz also said The Perfume Shop will continue to focus on value and ensure “there is something for everyone”. It will also continue to roll out new stores, with openings this year including The Rock in Bury, Swords in Dublin and an outlet shop at The Outlet in Banbridge.