Boots’ focus on value delivers strong Christmas performance

The health and beauty giant marked its seventh consecutive quarter of sales growth and market share gain, on top of 16.3% growth last year, which it credited to its focus on value and a record-breaking Black Friday. 

The retailer said while December results will be reported in the spring, early indications show that it had a strong Christmas season, with sales growth of around 15% against December 2021.

Boots said footfall continued to recover ahead of the market, up 8% ahead of retail footfall in the UK, while online sales have doubled from pre-pandemic levels and now account for 18% of total retail sales. The Boots App grew by 26%, now representing a quarter of all online sales.

Boots boss Seb James told Retail Week in October that it planned to deliver the “most value Christmas ever”, which placed deals and own-label at the centre of its golden quarter strategy. Across the period, sales of its Everyday Essentials range increased by over a third. 

It also recorded its biggest-ever day of online sales on Black Friday, with gifts such as electrical beauty items and fragrances leading the most popular products. Store sales for the day also increased by 13% on last year. 

James said: “It has been another positive quarter for Boots. Our focus on giving customers our best-ever value to help with cost-of-living pressures, as well as continued investment in our digital capability and in updating our store estate, has resulted in increased retail sales and market share growth for the seventh consecutive quarter. Our Black Friday and Christmas performance were particularly pleasing and I would like to thank the teams for their huge efforts in bringing our customers genuinely fantastic offers.”