John Lewis is stepping up its investment in beauty by partnering exclusively with Skin Cupid, the UK’s leading Korean beauty retailer, to launch its first Korean beauty shop-in-shops. This partnership will bring the specialist brand’s expertise and community to customers outside London for the first time.
The move will see John Lewis launch 20 Korean skin and haircare brands online, as well as opening Skin Cupid shop-in-shops in Cambridge, Kingston and Leeds this summer. It forms part of a broader beauty push at John Lewis. This focus also includes the launch of MyJL Beauty, a beauty enhancement to the My John Lewis membership programme, and the recent expansion of The Beauty Society, its brand-agnostic advisory service.
John Lewis is betting on beauty as a strategic growth category as customer behaviour shifts. Beauty sales at John Lewis have grown by 42% since 2020, while searches for Korean skincare have soared nearly 800% over the past year. Customers are increasingly shopping by ingredient, efficacy and results, rather than by brand alone. Searches for hyaluronic acid have surged 127%; azelaic acid searches are up 110%; and searches for peptides are up 91%. In the beauty-tech space, searches for LED masks are up 75%.
Skin Cupid partnership
Skin Cupid is the UK’s leading Korean beauty retailer, built on education, ingredient transparency, and a passionate community of skincare enthusiasts. Through ingredient education, expert curation, and exclusive partnerships with some of the biggest names in Korean beauty, Skin Cupid has introduced some of Korea’s most exciting brands to British shoppers before they hit the mainstream.
Its partnership with John Lewis marks a significant moment for Korean beauty in the UK, reflecting the growing mainstream demand for Korean skincare and science-led beauty.
The partnership will introduce 20 Korean skincare and haircare brands to John Lewis, including Beauty of Joseon, Medicube, Anua, Unove, Manyo, S.Nature, and Dr Different, with some brands only available through Skin Cupid and John Lewis. John Lewis stores in Cambridge, Kingston, and Leeds will all have a full Skin Cupid shop-in-shop, giving customers access to its ‘gurus’ and experts outside of London for the first time. The full assortment will be available online, with wider John Lewis Beauty Halls offering a curated edit.
Beauty as a growth category
As a category, beauty is a core focus in the brand’s £800m transformation. Across its stores, six of its 34 Beauty Halls were upgraded last year, transforming them into immersive discovery destinations with more space and new brands – with more planned for this year.
In total, there are now 540 specialist beauty counters at John Lewis, over 400 individual beauty services – covering everything from quick counter makeovers to in-depth consultations, and nearly 70 dedicated treatment rooms, which are private spaces for full, indulgent services. In total, approximately 1,800 beauty specialists are on hand to help customers across the 34 John Lewis beauty halls.
MyJL Beauty
To offer even more value to My John Lewis members when shopping beauty, John Lewis has launched MyJL Beauty this week [Weds 29 April]; a community for members who love beauty where they will find new offers, events and beauty hacks from John Lewis Partners.
Customers who buy beauty products and swipe their My John Lewis card when shopping will receive tailored rewards and personalised offers, including the MyJL Beauty Edit Box which will drop late May. It will feature a curation of John Lewis’ buyers’ favourite products worth £240 including Medik8 Daily Radiance Vitamin C C-Tetra Cream 50ml, Elemis Pro Collagen Energising Marin Cleanser 30ml, and Laneige Bouncy & Firm Lip Treatment 12ml, and will be free to members spending £200 or more on beauty items. Beauty boxes are customer must-haves, with sales of John Lewis curated boxes up 85% over the past year.
There are currently 3.8m active My John Lewis members, an increase of 4% in the past year. On average, My John Lewis beauty customers shop with the brand over six times a year.
The Beauty Society
To address the growing demand for trusted beauty advice, John Lewis has rolled out its Beauty Society, a dedicated brand-agnostic in-store service, to more stores. The service offers impartial personalised consultations, and expert beauty and skincare advice and from its specially-trained Beauty Guides at nine stores. The Beauty Society helps customers shop across brands rather than at a single counter, reflecting the way customers increasingly want to discover and compare products.
This builds on the popularity of its in-store personal styling service, which has a record-breaking year that saw appointments rise by 8% last year. This growth reflects a trend of customers seeking expert guidance and advice while shopping.
Helen Spencer, director of beauty at John Lewis said: “Beauty customers are changing the way they shop. They are increasingly researching ingredients, trends and products before coming to us for trusted advice and the chance to try products in person. Through Skin Cupid, MyJL Beauty, and The Beauty Society, we are giving customers new ways to discover brands, access expert guidance, and be rewarded for shopping beauty with John Lewis.”
“These launches mark an important step in our broader beauty push as we continue to invest in the category across stores, loyalty and digital channels.”
Melody Yuan, CEO at Skin Cupid, said: “We’re thrilled to be partnering with John Lewis to bring Korean beauty to more UK shoppers. Their reputation for quality and the trust they’ve built with customers made them the natural home for Skin Cupid, and we cannot wait to bring our expertise, brands, and community spirit to shoppers across the UK.”
Earlier this year John Lewis launched a pilot on TikTok Shop, with beauty products being at the heart of the social shopping experience, and also broadened its expansion into on-demand shopping with Uber Eats. This forms part of John Lewis’s wider beauty plans across both physical and digital channels.
