Boots launches budget brand in face of cost-of-living crisis

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Sep 7, 2022

It’s been a busy week so far for Boots. Fresh from announcing the launch of a new online marketplace platform from next spring, the UK health & beauty retail giant is now launching a major budget range of products.

All products in the ‘everyday’ brand will cost £1.50 or less as Boots attempts to attract the consumers cutting back in the cost-of-living crisis.

The 60-product budget range includes large bottles of shampoo and conditioner for 75p as well as toothbrushes, cleansing wipes and hand wash.

As inflation and costs continue to rise, Boots said shoppers were looking for deals and promotions, with its head of beauty for Boots brands and exclusives, Jenna Whittingham-Ward, saying the new budget brand would allow customers to make “make small everyday switches to help save money” while leaving them “clean and feeling good”.

“At a time when many people are facing choices between heating and eating and we’re all bracing ourselves for a winter of feeling the pinch more than ever, we’re offering a no-compromise range to help customers,” she said.

Boots said the budget mango and papaya shampoo and 85p ‘zingy’ raspberry and pomegranate shower gel would not disappoint, with Whittingham-Ward noting it had stuck to its slogan, “if it has got Boots on it, it has got our best in it”.

And as purses tighten, Boots noted it has also recorded 500,000 new sign-ups to its Advantage card loyalty scheme within six months – “the biggest number of new joiners for some time”, the retailer said.

In June, Boots also announced it was freezing prices on more than 1,500 products in the face of higher costs. The retailer has locked-in prices on popular essential items under the Boots own-label lines until at least the end of the year. 

Boots said its private label portfolio contains more than 11,000 products, includes 100 lines priced £1 or less, with 1,000 products priced at £2 or under.

Make-up sales often thrive in difficult economic times as small luxuries become a way for cash-strapped consumers to treat themselves. Boots said it was seeing evidence of the trend, with overall beauty sales up 14% on last year and demand for fragrances rising by nearly a fifth.

Seb James, the chief executive of Boots UK, added: “Sales of beauty products at Boots continue to rise, suggesting customers still want to treat themselves to new make-up, perfume or skincare, despite cost-of-living pressures. 

“During the last recession, we experienced two things: firstly, the ‘lipstick effect’, which is the determination to continue purchasing small treats, and secondly, increased spending on own label and promotions,” he added.