Boots to launch in-store specialist skincare units
Boots The Chemist is to set up specialist skincare advice units in 95 stores nationwide, staffed by trained advisors selling a range of products new to the UK.
Boots has created a new umbrella category, Boots specialist skincare, comprising products which fall between beauty and pharmaceutical use. In France and the US the sector is called cosmeceuticals.
The products care for three sorts of skin type – oily/acne-prone, dry/mild eczema and sensitive/allergic as well as scalp conditions – and include facial washes, creams, body lotions and cleansing bars.
They have been sourced from Johnson & Johnson’s RoC Dermatologic range, Laboratoires Dermatologiques Lutsia and Pierre Fabre and none are yet available in the UK.
Newly recruited Boots staff are undergoing a six-month training course to enable them to act as dedicated advisors at the merchandising unit, which will be situated in the healthcare section of the store.
A Boots spokeswoman says there are 3,000 dermatologists in France but only 300 in the UK: “Access to dermatologists is more difficult here [in the UK]. We want to offer people the chance to spend time with advisors.”
The merchandising units will be installed after Christmas and will feature a machine to test customers’ skin for dryness or oiliness. The service will be operational in January and a national advertising campaign will follow.
