The UK health & beauty market was valued at GBP33.8 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow with a CAGR of more than 2% by 2025. As COVID-19 restrictions have eased in the UK, the health & beauty market will rebound with sales forecast to rise in 2021. The market, however, will not fully recover to 2019 levels until 2023. The beauty category with the highest growth rate will drive significant growth in the sector, boosted by increased consumer spending on leisure activities and holidays, encouraging purchases of beauty products such as makeup and fragrance again.

Drug stores and health & beauty stores was the leading channel in the UK health & beauty market in 2020 and is also expected to hold the highest share during the forecast period, followed by hypermarkets, supermarkets & hard discounters, and others. Boots, Tesco, and Sainsbury’s were the leading retailers in the UK health & beauty market in 2020.

Overview of the UK health & beauty market

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What are the market dynamics of the UK health & beauty market?

Retailers have expanded their online offerings significantly since the start of the pandemic, and this looks likely to continue. At Holland & Barrett, consumers can speak to trained staff about health and wellness virtually. Furthermore, there is also an increased product range to choose from, with online apparel retailers like ASOS widening their beauty offering by partnering with established brands such as Lush. Consumers are more mindful of their health and wellness than ever before. Vitamin and mineral supplements have become more popular, especially as consumers look to boost their immune systems and improve their health with the pandemic ongoing. Beauty halls and stores are opening as retailers look to broaden their category offering. Next has opened four Beauty and Home stores across the UK capitalizing on the loss of Debenhams from the high street. Beauty brands are also opening physical locations, with Glossier opening a permanent store in Covent Garden in early December 2021 following on from the success of its pop-up from November 2019 to March 2020. The rise in consumers learning about what goes into their products has led to a boom in ingredient-led skincare. Brands such as The Ordinary and Herbivore create products in their range based around one hero ingredient, such as vitamin C, retinol, and hyaluronic acid. Consumers seek to achieve healthy skin using a combination of these products, at affordable prices.

As flexible working is set to become a permanent trend post-pandemic, the essential nature of wearing makeup daily is declining. Many consumers are choosing to wear minimal makeup on days spent working from home and are opting to wear lighter makeup on days out of the house, stripping back their makeup routine and using fewer products. This is causing demand to shift away from bold eyeshadows and full coverage foundations to multipurpose products such as tinted moisturizers and serums instead. With masks once again needed in shops and on public transport, many consumers are simply choosing to not wear lip products at all.

What are the key categories of the UK health & beauty market?

The UK health & beauty market is categorized into health and beauty. The health category has the highest share in 2020 and is expected to remain the dominant category during the forecast period also. The beauty category is forecasted to have a higher growth rate than health. The health category was valued at over GBP21 billion in 2020, while the beauty category is expected to grow with a CAGR of more than 4% during the forecast period.

The UK health & beauty market, by key categories

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What are key distribution channels in the UK health & beauty market?

Drug stores and health & beauty stores was the leading channel in the UK health & beauty market in 2020, followed by hypermarkets, supermarkets & hard discounters, other, multi-channel retail, and online specialists. Online specialists is forecast to have the highest growth rate during the forecast period with a CAGR of more than 5%.

The UK health & beauty market, by distribution channels

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Which are the major companies in the UK health & beauty market?

The leading retailers of the UK health & beauty market in 2020, included Boots, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Specsavers, ASDA, Lloyds Pharmacy, Superdrug, Morrisons, Well Pharmacy, and Aldi. Boots had the highest share, of more than 15%, in the UK health & beauty market in 2020.

The UK health & beauty market, by key players

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Market report scope

Reasons to Buy

• Using our five-year forecasts to 2025, learn which areas of the health & beauty market will be the fastest performing to enable focus and investment in these winning product areas.
• Understand how drivers of health & beauty purchases, such as range, price, and quality, vary in importance among different demographics in order to maximize sales potential.
• Use our in-depth analysis of the challenges faced by key retailers in the sector in order to understand how to steal shoppers and market share.