Most popular beauty websites in the UK 2024, by web traffic
In April 2024, Boots was the most visited beauty and cosmetics website in the United Kingdom (UK). That month, over 15 million users visited the retailer's website. Superdrug followed with roughly five million visitors and Lookfantastic with about three million visits.
Boots takes the lead
Boots is part of the Walgreens Boots Alliance, whose majority of sales come from the United States. However, in the United Kingdom, where Boots was founded, the health and pharma retailer dominates the beauty space. Boots has thousands of retail stores across the United Kingdom, as well as a strong online presence, both with the site boots.com and its mobile application. The mobile app has become especially popular in recent years, as download figures reveal. In January 2022, the Boots app was downloaded around 72,000 times, while in December 2023, app downloads reached 443,000. This immense growth demonstrates the popularity of the Boots brand in the beauty industry in the UK.
The UK beauty market
The online beauty market in the UK is the sixth biggest in the world, generating yearly revenues of 1.75 billion U.S. dollars. However, consumers still prefer to shop for makeup-related items in-store. According to a consumer survey conducted in December 2023, around 55 percent of UK shoppers bought health and beauty products in traditional retail establishments. In comparison, roughly 28 percent of shoppers purchased these items via digital channels. Thus, it is clear that while online shopping has become increasingly popular, traditional retail still holds a strong foothold in the UK beauty market.
