Boots has a new owner: Three ways it could affect you

Boots has a new owner: Three ways it could affect you

If you have been looking to buy a health or beauty product, chances are you have shopped at a Boots somewhere in the UK.

The pharmacy and retailer has long been a fixture on Britain’s high streets, serving generations of customers for decades.

Now, after an £7bn deal was agreed this week, it is set to begin its 178th year under new ownership — and here are three ways that could change your shopping experience.

Improving its portfolio of 1,800 stores is high on the agenda for Boots’ new owners, Wittington Investments. The holding company belongs to the Westons, a wealthy Canadian family with deep retail roots who once owned Selfridges and now own several major retailers across the Atlantic.

The family’s UK branch also controls Associated British Foods (ABF), the owner of Primark.

What Boots stores may look like in future has not been revealed.

Business has been strong for Boots in recent years, and new beauty areas in some of its larger shops have given customers more of a department store feel, according to Sofie Willmott, associate director and analyst at GlobalData Retail.

Since opening its first beauty-only store in 2023 at the Battersea Power Station development, the company says it has redesigned more than 180 beauty halls, while also launching its first fragrance concept store and an Opticians focused on luxury eyewear.

“They should invest in the rest of the chain because they've got such a big store portfolio that I think some of the smaller stores have really lacked investment over time, and I think that is something that they need to kind of catch up with,” Willmott says.

She adds that a more “consistent” appearance would also help. “At the moment there is a bit of a disconnect.”

Jackie Naghten, a retail veteran who has worked for Top Shop, Marks & Spencer and Debenhams, believes Boots’ stores need to be made “more functional” by avoiding having their health hubs “squeezed in the corner”.

But Yasmin Trimble, 22, who buys beauty products from Boots, likes how easy the stores are to navigate.

“You can get everything you need...it is not confusing. It has got a cleaner aesthetic to it as well.”

Katie Burrows and Yasmin Trimble both shop at Boots regularly

Boots was an early adopter of the loyalty cards now commonly offered by companies that give points and discounts to customers who sign up.

Its Advantage card, launched in 1997, is unlikely to disappear and remains popular.

Naghten does not think Boots would scrap it. “It's the best-value store card in terms of bang for your buck.”

The card gives shoppers three points for every pound they spend. Each point is worth 1p.

Katie Burrows, 23, likes collecting points to get money off.

She mainly shops at Boots for skincare, first aid and medicine, but says prices for sanitary products are “ridiculously expensive” — something her friend Yasmin agrees with.

Lewis Harrison also says the loyalty card offers good value, but finds it “frustrating how the rewards points only cover a full transaction”.

“I wish you could use your points for a partial transaction like you can in Holland and Barrett,” the 25-year-old says. “It would be good to use the points towards more expensive transactions.”

Natalie Berg, retail expert and founder of consultancy NBK Retail, says the Advantage card gives Boots “a unique understanding of their customers” and is an asset the new owners “will want to double down on”.

“As AI and social media change how people discover and buy products, that direct relationship with customers will only become more important.”

The new owners have already indicated they plan to expand Boots’ healthcare service, which is currently a booming sector.

The retailer began as an apothecary, so health is part of its roots. Today, it offers a broad range of health and wellbeing services, as well as prescriptions and vaccinations through its in-store pharmacies.

Earlier this summer, it also announced it was expanding services for weight loss drugs, which have become increasingly popular.

Naghten says the Weston family’s purchase of Boots comes at a time when pharmacies are increasingly expected to prescribe more medications and health services, in an effort to reduce pressure on GP surgeries and hospitals.

“They didn't buy this thing for no reason. They have got the blueprint,” she says.

While health will remain central to the business, Boots also has other strengths, Naghten adds, including its No7 make-up and skincare products.

“When you have all these people coming in for health and wellbeing services, they will also be picking up a lipstick,” she says.

Willmott says Boots has an “edge” over rivals on the health side because of its reputation as an expert.

But the company faces strong competition, which Boots said affected revenues in its latest financial results.

Shoppers, especially younger ones, are increasingly looking for products online through influencer ads rather than going to physical stores.

There are also other major competitors, including Superdrug. And this week M&S announced a new partnership with Sephora, saying it would replace a hundred of its own beauty departments with the brand next year.

For 18-year-old Schekina Bourne, Boots is not a “go-to shop”.

“Even though I can go to Boots even in my area....Superdrug is like closest to me. So, I'll prefer the convenience,” she says.