Superdrug’s sales shot up 7% last year thanks to a strategy that increased its physical retail footprint, delivered competitive pricing and invested more into its own-brand offering.
The UK beauty retailer’s financial results revealed the company’s profit before tax reached £136.8m for the year ended 28 December 2024 – a year-on-year increase of 22.6%.
This marked Superdrug’s fourth consecutive year of market share growth, which is part of the company’s quiet play to become Britain's go-to beauty retailer.
Superdrug CEO Peter Macnab said it also “proves our brand is more relevant today than it ever has been”.
A £1m investment into making sun care “a health essential” – a key topic in the industry at the moment – is among the retailer’s cited growth drivers.
By removing the equivalent of VAT from its own-brand sun lotion range Solait and freezing its prices for the second year running, it claims it made SPF even more accessible for UK shoppers.
The launch of the retailer’s B. Protect SPF 50 also resulted in a 50% boost in sun care sales year-on-year.
Meanwhile, Superdrug’s own-brand cosmetic range Studio London continued to draw in Gen Z customers, with one U Matte-r Setting Spray Matte selling every minute.
Superdrug recently celebrated a milestone £20m investment in its own-brand product innovation with a two-day pop-up in London, UK, in June.
The company’s marketplace also grew at an “incredible rate”, with the beauty retailer listing more than 41,000 products in 2024, which delivered year-on-year sales of +107%.
An acceleration of the company’s ‘Offline Plus, Online Strategy’, which delivered improvements in Superdrug’s website user experience, was said to have had a positive impact on sales.
The relaunch of Superdrug’s customer app, which reached more than five million members in 2024, was also cited as a contributing factor.
Pricing and promotion strategies via Superdrug’s Health & Beauty loyalty scheme – with offers such as ‘Members Only’, ‘Star Buys’ and ‘Treat Thursdays’ – also helped to boost revenue, with 60% of total sales going through the programme.
Seasonal promotions were particularly popular last year, with Halloween delivering +33% sales and like-for-like Christmas purchases at +5.1%.
Superdrug's own-brand sun lotion range Solait
2024 also saw Superdrug focus on the alignment of its health and beauty offering, which saw its medicated skin and hair offering outperform the market.
The retailer’s ‘Price Relief from Pain Relief’ value campaign did particularly well, with more than 1.4 million product units sold during this.
Sports nutrition brand Oxyshred, which is exclusive to Superdrug, became the number one seller in this category.
In the retailer’s ‘Healthcare Services’, the launch of a new online booking portal for Superdrug’s 100-plus nurse clinics also “made booking even easier for customers” in September, reported the company.
Superdrug ramped up its high street presence last year too, opening 13 new stores in shopping destinations such as Craigavon, Northern Ireland, and Lakeside Thurrock, Essex.
The retailer also extended its flagship in London shopping destination Westfield Stratford to create its biggest-ever store at 9,900sqft.
45 pre-existing stores were also given a revamp to deliver “an even better experience” for customers, which included adding Beauty Studios, which deliver beauty treatments.
Superdrug plans to open 25 more “best-in-class” stores this year too, and refurbish an extra 65 pre-existing ones.
“We are extremely proud to release a set of financial results worthy of our 60th birthday celebration year and which prove our brand is more relevant today than it ever has been,” said Macnab.
“We continue to stay true to our vision of leadership in accessible health and beauty retail.
“Available, affordable and inclusive all remain at the heart of what we do, and clearly our excellent product offering, delivered with vibrancy and convenience, is resonating with more and more of today’s shoppers.”