Superdrug celebrates strong December trading

Superdrug has reported strong festive trading with total sales up 9.2% in the four weeks to 30 December.

On a like-for-like basis, sales rose by 7.1% as the health and beauty retailer’s focus on providing high performance products at an affordable price paid off. The retailer was also boosted by the popularity of member-only deals amongst Health & Beautycard customers.

While sales of own-brand products increased by 10% year-on-year, the Studio London cosmetics range was Superdrug’s fastest growing and biggest own brand range and contributed to Superdrug achieving 20% year-on-year category growth in cosmetics.

Meanwhile, Superdrug’s online app sales surged by 74% year-on-year in its golden quarter and there were 127,000 new registrations for the Health & Beautycard, which meant the total membership reached 18.1 million.

Superdrug has been investing heavily in the expansion of its Beauty Studio services and opened a new studio in Jersey in December. Beauty Studio also recorded one of its biggest sales months in December, with sales up 20% on the same period last year.

Superdrug chief executive Peter Macnab said: “We are exceptionally pleased to be reporting strong Christmas results and appreciate our customers continued support.

“The strong sales growth in own brand really demonstrates that customers are seeking quality products from a brand that they can trust, at an affordable price.

“Our continued investment in to expanding the store estate and digital services, as well as in innovation, remain imperative and has helped contribute to an increase in sales throughout the December period.”