Beauty retailer Superdrug is replicating the in-store shopping experience for online users with a new function that connects customers with retail consultants in-store.
To replicate the in-store experience, the A.S. Watson-owned retailer has set up its ‘Superdrug Store Insider’ option via superdrug.com that connects shoppers buying fragrance and make-up to colleagues at its Westwood Cross, Leicester Fosse Park, Basildon Mayflower and Oxford Westgate, UK, stores.
Following the initial trial across the four stores, pending a success, Superdrug will extend the service to its bricks-and-mortar fleet.
The project is being steered by A.S. Watson’s Offline plus Online (O+O) strategy, which is now the world’s largest international health and beauty retailer, with 16,000 stores under 12 retail brands in 27 markets.
Speaking to Cosmetics Business A.S. Watson’s CEO of Asia and Europe, Malina Ngai, said that O+O benefits the customers and their lifestyles.
“Forget physical versus online. It’s not either or. O+O is the new standard for retail. Simply O+O describes how customers shop today.
“It creates an integrated experience to better serve customers’ needs and enables them to shop across any channel, anytime, anywhere. There is no cannibalisation in customers’ spending in physical stores.”
Meanwhile, Superdrug’s E-commerce Director, Matt Walburn, added: “The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly accelerated the growth of our superdrug.com business and we are passionate to provide a market-leading online experience for all our customers.
“Traditionally a bricks-and-mortar business, Superdrug has long had a reputation for expert health and beauty advice in-store.
“So now, in a time when customers are shopping online for safety and convenience, we want to ensure we can offer that same personal shopping approach, just from the comfort of a customer’s own living room.”
To access the service, customers should visit superdrug.com and click on the service icon to be connected to a store representative.
