Boots sales rise 8.1% in Q1

Boots has delivered a “strong” first quarter with total comparable retail sales up 8.1% YoY for the three months ended 30 November 2024. 

The UK’s leading health and beauty retailer saw growth across all categories and channels, on top of a “significant increase” in the prior year. 

Boots’ digital sales rose 23% YoY, accounting for 22% of total retail sales. Store sales also grew, with Boots’ destination health and beauty stores and flagships performing “particularly well”, as well as travel stores. 

Continuing its investment in the in-store experience, the group refurbished over 30 stores in the quarter including Bristol Cribbs Causeway, Manchester Trafford Centre, and Birmingham Bullring.  

The retailer performed well during the Black Friday period, with sales up 20% during the week. On the Friday itself, Boots achieved its biggest ever day of sales, with almost five orders per second during its busiest hour.  

Sales in the beauty category were up 11% YoY for the quarter, driven by fragrance, premium beauty, and skincare. 

Boots added over 20 new brands to its leading selection of popular beauty brands with Neom Wellbeing, Fresh and Naturium launched in Q1. Boots also saw significant growth in demand for Korean skincare, introducing six new brands within the quarter including Anua and Skin1004. 

In healthcare, comparable pharmacy sales were up 10.9%, primarily driven by continued strong performance in services including flu, Covid-19 and travel vaccinations. Boots also delivered over 155,000 NHS Pharmacy First consultations in England in the quarter, enabling accessible treatment on the high street for seven common conditions, including sore throat, earache and urinary tract infections. Boots Online Doctor continued to perform well, with sales more than doubling YoY. 

Anthony Hemmerdinger, managing director, Boots UK and Ireland, said: “This is another strong set of financial results, with retail and pharmacy sales seeing significant uplift alongside market share gains and increased customer satisfaction scores. These figures demonstrate that our ongoing transformation – from improvements to the in-store and digital customer experience to a focus on offering the very best product and service range across all price points – is working. 

“We are relentlessly focused on our transformation journey and have more exciting plans ahead to further enhance the experience for our customers. Looking forward, we face heightened cost pressures in 2025 following the Autumn Budget, however with positive momentum behind us and a clear plan in place, the business is focused on navigating these and continuing to deliver long-term, sustainable growth.”