Report Summary
Period covered: 02 March – 05 April 2025
3 minute read
Note: This report summary is one or two months behind the current month as standard reporting practice. The content is indicative only and incomplete with certain data undisclosed. Become a member to access this data or take out a free 30 day membership trial now.
Health and Beauty sales
Health & Beauty sales rose by 5.2% YoY in March, compared to 3.0% growth in March 2024, according to the Retail Economics Retail Sales Index (value, non-seasonally adjusted).
Health & Beauty was one of the strongest performing categories in March, with only electricals (+5.4%) outpacing the sector.
Sales drivers
Several key factors influenced this performance:
- Warmer weather (+): Met Office weather summaries reported the third sunniest March on record, with the month warmer and drier than normal. Persistent high pressure brought settled conditions for most of the month, with bright but cool temperatures in the south and milder temperatures and some showers in the north. The weather led to increased footfall and encouraged shoppers out of the house.
- Mother’s Day (+): Mother’s Day drove growth of beauty sets and perfumes, with consumers increasingly turning to the category for gifting purposes.
- Late Easter (-): Easter fell into the April trading period this year, after falling into March in 2024. This made for a more challenging year on year comparative, although sales performed better than expected across the retail sector.
- Bills increase (-): An imminent increase in bills including energy and water, planned for April, put a dampener on consumer spending, as shoppers cut back ahead of these rises.
Retail sales performed better than expected in March, with the later timing of Easter and difficult comparative leading many to expect March to be a disappointing.
However, warmer weather, longer evenings and the shift into spring helped defy expectations, with consumers spending on seasonal items and with several non-food categories performing particularly well.
Health and beauty saw a boost from Mother’s Day gifting, with search volumes for beauty sets increasing, according to Google Retail.
The Perfume Shop saw a 14% year-on-year sales increase during the lead-up, selling nearly 281,000 bottles from 9th to 30th March. Sales surged 56% the week before Mother’s Day, with strong demand for classic perfumes and gift sets.
Consumer mood
Footfall rose 2.6% year on year across all UK retail destinations and is now just 5.5% lower than 2019 levels. The weekday gap between pre-and post-pandemic has narrowed to 10.8%, as more employers require a return to the office.
Inflation stood at 2.6% in March, down from 2.8% the previous month, and consumer confidence increased by one point to -19.
However, the recovery in spend and confidence is polarised, and consumers continue to exercise caution in some areas. They continue to prioritise experiential spend over non-essential retail, with Barclays reporting a 5.7% increase in travel spend in March, led by travel agents and airlines.
Consumers were also hit by the news of Donald Trump’s tariffs on April 2, which caused widespread uncertainty and a plunge of four points in April’s GfK consumer confidence index.
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Inflation stood at 2.6% in March
Source: Retail Economics, ONS
