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

retained text

Boots has a new owner: Three ways it could affect you
- Published
If you have been looking to buy a health or beauty product, the chances are you will have shopped at a Boots somewhere in the UK.
The pharmacy and retailer is a stalwart of Britain's high streets, where it has served generations of customers for decades.
But now it is set to enter its 178th year under new ownership after an £7bn deal was agreed this week - here's three ways it could affect your shopping experience.
Revamped shops
Upgrading its portfolio of 1,800 stores is high on the list of Boots' new owners, Wittington Investments. This is the holding company of the Westons - a wealthy and retail-steeped Canadian family who used to own Selfridges and currently own several large retailers across the Atlantic.
The UK branch of the family also controls the owner of Primark, Associated British Foods (ABF).
What Boots stores might look like in the future has not been disclosed.
Business has been good for Boots in recent years, and new-look beauty areas in some of its bigger shops have given shoppers more of a department store experience, according to Sofie Willmott, an associate director and analyst at GlobalData Retail.
Since the opening of its first beauty-only store in 2023 in the Battersea Power Station development, it says it has redesigned over 180 beauty halls, while also opening its first fragrance concept store and an Opticians dedicated to 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.
A more "consistent" look would also be an improvement, Willmott adds. "At the moment there is a bit of a disconnect."
Jackie Naghten, a retail industry veteran who has worked for the likes of Top Shop, Marks & Spencer and Debenhams, thinks Boots' stores need to be made "more functional" by not having their health hubs "squeezed in the corner".
But Yasmin Trimble, 22, who buys beauty products from Boots, likes how the easy stores are to navigate.
"You can get everything you need...it is not confusing. It has got a cleaner aesthetic to it as well."
Advantage card an 'asset to double down on'
Boots was an early adopter of the loyalty cards commonly offered today by companies offering points and discounts to customers who sign up.
Its Advantage card, launched in 1997, is unlikely to go away and remains popular.
Naghten doesn't think they would get rid of it. "It's the best-value store card in terms of bang for your buck."
The card offers shoppers three points for every pound they spend. Each point is worth 1p.
Katie Burrows, 23, is a fan of building up the points to get money off.
She mainly shops at Boots for skincare, first aid and medicine, but thinks prices for its sanitary products are "ridiculously expensive" - something her friend Yasmin agrees with.
Lewis Harrison believes the loyalty card is also 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, suggests 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."
Expanding healthcare services
The new owners have already signalled they plan to expand Boots' healthcare service, a booming industry at the moment.
The retailer started out as an apothecary, so health is in its roots. Today, it offers a wide range of health and wellbeing services as well as prescriptions and vaccinations through its in-store pharmacies.
It also announced earlier this summer it was expanding services for weight loss drugs, which have surged in popularity.
Naghten points out that the Weston family's purchase of Boots comes at a time when pharmacies are increasingly going to prescribe more medications and health services, in a bid to ease 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 a core part of its business, Boots has other strengths, Naghten adds, in 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 suggests Boots has an "edge" over its rivals on the health side, given its reputation as an expert.
But the company is facing tough competition, which Boots acknowledged affected revenues in its latest financial results.
Shoppers, particularly younger ones, are increasingly seeking products online through influencer ads rather than heading to brick-and-mortar shops.
There are also other big players, such as Superdrug. And M&S this week 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" for her. "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.
Additional reporting by Ben Sturt and Anuk Weerawardana
Related topics
  - Published2 days ago

document fetched 2026-10-10 02:49 · canonical https://bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c63djxry8124o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss