Boots cosmetics hit Dubai
brand cosmetics range No7 in its four new beauty stores in Dubai in
a bid to tap into the expanding and lucrative cosmetics market
there.
The brand has been in the European market for over 70 years and has recently been remodelled in time for the Dubai launch.
Boots, which previously launched the range in stores in the US, UK and Europe, will be hoping to profit from the expected development of the Middle Eastern cosmetics industry with the inclusion of the No7 brand in the four Boots stores that are currently present within this area.
A Euromonitor report suggested that Dubai is a strong market within which to develop beauty cosmetic products in, with the market for hair and beauty expected to have achieved growth of 12 per cent to reach $2.1bn ($1.64bn) in 2006.
The company has confirmed that the No7 product range will be promoted as a leading brand within the four new Dubai stores, based in various locations with more stores set to open in the near future.
The company says that the No 7 range has recieved positive feedback in other areas outside of Europe for some time, following retail tests in the lucrative US cosmetics market early last year.
Boots has been selling own-brands such as No. 7 cosmetics, Botanics, Time Delay and Mediterranean skin care in Target and CVS stores all over the US, where the products are said to have proved a particularly big hit with shoppers in New York City.
The expansion of its own brand of cosmetics into new markets follows the £7bn (€10.2bn) merger of Boots, the largest pharmacy and personal care retailer in the UK, and Alliance Unichem, a European-wide retailer and distributor of pharmaceutical and healthcare products, last year.
This move aims to consolidate Boots's position as the leading pharmacy and personal care retailer in the UK and Europe, and to head of the threat of competitors in an over-crowded market.
The merger was also expected to give the company further expansion possibilities on the European front. Boots is already adding its health and beauty ranges into Alliance's 1,200 stores throughout the UK.
The launch of the No 7 brand in Dubai will no doubt help the company's booming beauty division which currently accounts for around 40 per cent of its sales, with the healthcare division accounting for around 45 per cent.
