With the cost of living crisis impacting 87% of UK adults, and as a result, 48% of consumers planning to reduce their beauty spend, the landscape of beauty shopping on the high street has changed considerably.
To meet consumers where they currently are, Superdrug has pledged to freeze the prices of approximately 5,000 color cosmetic products from brands including Maybelline, Rimmel, e.l.f. Beauty, and Morphe until summer 2024. Having previously frozen prices for limited periods over the year, such as slashing prices on eponymous products by up to 50% in January 2024, the retailer is certainly making itself popular with shoppers. It recently revealed it constitutes 40.5% of mass market cosmetics nationwide, a record share of the past decade, making for far-reaching impact. Aside from pulling in customers who are looking for the lowest price on a product, there is a deeper appeal to the retailer’s price freezing. While other brands might be upping their prices amid inflation, Superdrug’s willingness to keep prices leveled speaks to prioritizing the financial well-being of its shoppers.
“As a leading health and beauty retailer, we pride ourselves on putting our customers first, and we’re committed to making cosmetics more affordable for our shoppers and supporting them with the rising cost of living,” commented Megan Potter, Trading Director. The price freeze follows announcements in February that the retailer would be reducing the cost of its name-brand oral care range by 20%.
“Beauty shoppers will be very mindful about what, where, and how much they’ll spend,” Wendy Liebmann, retail analyst and CEO of WSL Strategic Retail told WWD in January of this year. “Shoppers are in ‘just in case’ mode, in spite of improved macroeconomic trends.” Indeed, a recent McKinsey study discovered that 30% of consumers bought fewer “bonus” beauty products this year, with makeup and skincare being the biggest budgeting categories. Superdrug’s price freeze timing certainly speaks to this trend and is helping to build customer loyalty in the process—a mass market beauty shopping experience for the people.
