Manchester-based cosmetics, skincare, bath and body retailer, Beauty Bay, has seen its turnover rocket by more than £50mn after switching online during lockdown.
The business posted a turnover of £134.4 million for the year to March 31, 2021, up from the £82.2 million on the previous trading period. Pre-tax profits rose from £4.4 million to £9.2 million over the same period.
The stellar results point to both the all-round meteoric rise of online shopping over the past two years and also the booming market for beauty and wellbeing products, as reflected by a dedicated sector at Spring Fair this year.
The company said in a statement: “This increase in turnover was driven largely by increases by 93% and 55% respectively in orders from new and existing customers driven from exceptionally strong levels of new customer acquisition as customers switched away from traditional high street retail to online retail to purchase beauty products during [the] Covid-19 lockdown period[s].
“The group also continued to focus on driving its private label business and key strategic markets throughout the year which helped drive an improvement in gross profit margins to 21% in the year (2020 – 20%).
“The group continues to invest in its digital platforms to deliver ongoing capability to adapt to changing market conditions and enable it to maintain differentiation in an increasingly competitive marketplace.”
