Superdrug to add more stores as demand for weight loss drugs soars | Retail industry

An increase in demand for weight loss drugs, including Mounjaro and Wegovy, as well as demand from its customers Alpha Generation for beauty products leads to expansion in Superdrug.

The retailer plans to add 25 other stores to its solid chain of more than 800 this year as well as extending existing outlets, despite problems on the main street which led to the closure of hundreds of stores in its rival boots and to reduce the reduction of Poundland channels in River Island.

Superdrug bounces difficult times during the coronavirus pandemic, because demand for its weight loss services of almost 300% in the first half of this year compared to last year.

Although many drugs are ordered online via its private GP service, the retailer examines how he can adapt and extend store services to meet demand so that his nursing team can offer potential side effects, such as hair loss, for example. More serious problems, especially with the pancreas, have also been reported in some cases.

“For us, it is good that people are becoming healthier and more fit and it is really important,” said Simon Comins, Commercial Director of Superdrug, but those who take the drugs may want to “socially in store” to help discuss all the problems they encounter.

Superdrug, once the decrease and the Boots Rival Dowdy also capitalized on the growth of the beauty market and its attraction for Gen Alpha – people born in 2010 – who are looking for store experiences while they are heading for the main street after school and the weekend.

The retailer made a conscious effort to obtain an attraction for young people, addressing generations influenced by Tiktok and Instagram.

His latest Gambit is the “Beauty Playground” – tables equipped with testers of the latest products, mirrors and ring fires for shots of flattering social media designed to please pre -adolescents and adolescents.

“Generation Alpha is our goal,” said Cumins, on tour of the 30 planned beauty playgrounds, in the group’s Westfield store in Stratford, in eastern London. “They often come as a” team “and they like the opportunity to touch and feel the products.” As much as click [to buy] On Tiktok is easy and practical, people want to travel in real life. »»

Even at the hot time of June, a constant flow of young women poses in front of the mirrors and tests the products. The store was extended by taking up two neighboring points of sale to give more space for experiences, including a nail bar and a drilling service.

This is part of the efforts to attract buyers to physical stores rather than buying online. The other services that have been tried include barbers and hairdressers, and Superdrug has trained hundreds of pharmacists who can offer free consultations on skin conditions such as acne – the type of service to which it can be difficult to access via a general practitioner.

Comins says that Superdrug has a team that scans social media to take over the latest popular brands and have brought a lot to stores, including Geek & Gorgeous, stickers of starry acne, Bperfect cosmetics and the colorful Daise body care range calls on tweenagers.

The initiates of the industry claim that the demand for beauty marks and cosmetics has even diverted the expenses of toys and other traditional products purchased by adolescents not entirely.

Liz Tan, the main strategist of the Consultative Society on WGSN trends, known as “Zalpha”, the fringing generation which between sons between Gen Z and Alphas, leads the enthusiasm of beauty “having grown up immersed in social media, with influencers and creators promoting online beauty products”.

Tan adds: “Beauty brands increase, build and establish the notoriety of the brand, affiliation and emotional connection via digital playgrounds in games of play like Roblox.”

These young people also fall into skin care diets at a much younger age than previous generations, because “millennial parents concerned about their health emphasize routine construction in the context of their daily life”.

Alex Beckett, principal director of research of the market company Mintl, adds that young consumers encourage their parents to spend.

“Thanks to their exposure to social media, YouTube and Netflix, Gen Alphas is exposed to trends and follies of dopamine breeding intended for the elderly, and they emulate them – essentially become hyper -informed consumers at an early age.”

For its older customers, Superdrug’s push in weight loss services occurs while thousands of patients in England are this week capable of accessing weight loss jab via their family GP. However, the deployment of the NHS is limited to 220,000 people with the “greatest need” and many more people are ready to pay for private access, so that High Street demand and online chemists should continue.

Recent boots figures have also indicated strong growth in pharmacies sales – up 5.4%, while its online Boots.com service increased sales by almost 15% in the three months at the end of May, although the group did not break the contribution of weight loss drugs. GlobalData analysts said the chain benefited from the demand for treatment of skin conditions such as acne, as part of a broader trend – encouraged by government policy – towards the visit of the pharmacy before trying the general practitioner.

Superdrug, which belongs to the conglomerate of Hong Kong, CK Hutchison Holdings, develops after Debenhams – once one of the main beauty retailers in the United Kingdom – left the main street and the house of Fraser and John Lewis closed stores.