The Perfume Shop, the UK’s largest fragrance retailer, reports the key trends that drove business growth in 2023 and will continue into 2024. They include a Cost of Living discount programme, the UK’s most extensive perfume recycling & sustainability initiatives and new look stores to appeal to broader audiences.
2023 key growth areas for The Perfume Shop include:
- The introduction of The Perfume Shop’s biggest ever Price Freeze with over 138 best-selling, branded fragrances on offer. This Cost of Living discount initiative:
– Saved UK shoppers over £18.77 million this year with its price freeze perfumes as of December 2023.– Saw an increase of +48% customers shopping directly from the Price Freeze section of The Perfume Shop’s website compared to 2022, ensuring that the UK was still able to shop perfume with ease.
- The Perfume Shop launched its most extensive perfume bottle recycling service to date as part of its focus on sustainability and on-going commitment to combat unnecessary perfume bottle wastage.
– In 2023, over 8,611 bottles have been recycled compared to 5,152 in 2022 with a +67% YTD increase within the 209 nationwide stores.– New data reveals that refillable fragrances are growing +23% (compared to +9% for non-refillable fragrances)* as environmentally conscious consumers choose more sustainable options. This new market leading initiative further increases the distribution of perfume refills and widens the choice of perfumes available to refill in-store.
- In 2023 The Perfume Shop introduced over 27 of its new, modernised, experiential stores across the UK and Ireland – the most comprehensive investment into its store estate. Investment in the stores, included new open layouts, upgraded services and digital screens. Existing materials and equipment are retained or reused as a priority.
– The stores continued to benefit from energy efficient LED lighting throughout, which contributes to The Perfume Shop’s commitment to reducing its energy consumption by 30% by 2030 vs 2015.
– The extensive expansion of these new refitted stores will continue into 2024 with around 35 more refits planned. - The Perfume Shop’s VIP Rewards Club increased its members by 21% in the last year due to several factors such as the cost-of-living crisis and the introduction of the biggest ever price freeze line announcement from the brand. It now has over 5,000,000 members.
* Circana data YTD June 2023
The Perfume Shop’s Managing Director Gill Smith said: “At the start of the year we knew it would be tough with the cost of living crisis and that we would have to create our own opportunities to delight our customers in many ways. 2024 will be another tough year with little let up on inflation, which will impact our customers’ confidence. We will continue to offer great value, refitting our stores and ensuring we are giving back with focuses on our people, the planet and the very best products.
With so much growth within the business It’s great to see all our hard work paying off. We wouldn’t have been able to do this with the dedication of our store staff, those who work in the head office and our warehouse team. I couldn’t be prouder of the achievements we have made in 2023 and can’t wait to see what 2024 has in store, but we can assure you, there are lots of exciting plans to come.”
Commitment to the people within the business is key to The Perfume Shop’s success. Other notable mentions include:
- The Perfume Shop secured certification as a Top Employer in 2023 from the Top Employers Institute who are the global authority on recognising excellence in people practices. These practices included people strategy, recruitment, learning & skills, career development, pay & benefits, engagement, DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) and wellbeing. Following the submission, Top Employers went through a detailed verification process which was then further audited.
- The Perfume Shop secured accreditation with the Living Wage Foundation. The Perfume Shop has paid real Living Wage pay rates since January 2023 signalling their commitment to ensuring all staff are paid fairly, feel rewarded and valued. Beyond the real Living Wage pay rate, Store teams were also able to earn commission in key trading periods, with Managers participating in an annual bonus scheme to ensure that performance is rewarded.
- The business also announced a pay increase for all retail staff in the UK with an average increase across store pay of 15% now in line with the Real Living Wage.
- The Perfume Shop committed to employee development, offering widespread opportunity for people to develop their career through apprenticeships, internal management training programmes as well as access to vocational learning through the British Retail Consortium and the Fragrance Foundation qualification programme.
With 2023 being The Perfume Shop’s highest sales year to date and with the continued support of their Passionate perfume people, work with their charity partners has still been very much at the forefront of The Perfume Shops strategy. In 2023 The Perfume Shop continued to work with Alzheimer’s Research UK, Look Good Feel Better, Marie Keating Foundation and Operation Smile to raise funds for the amazing work they do.
The Perfume Shop have also kept a strong relationship with Keech Hospice Care in Luton where in 2022 they created a sensory garden as a space for the patients and family to find a place of calm and peace. Through 2023 there have been volunteers from all areas of the Perfume Shop Business donating their time to upkeep the garden.
