TLDR: The UK online health and beauty sector saw strong growth, with sales up 11% year on year, driven largely by social commerce. Did you know TikTok is now the UK’s fourth largest beauty seller? Amazon remains the market leader, leveraging its high PPC share and innovative campaigns like its four-day Prime Day featuring LeBron James and its new AI shopping assistant. Boots ranks second with 15 million monthly visits and a value first marketing approach, including its “Snap Your Savings” campaign and a strong focus on personalisation, omnichannel engagement, and loyalty rewards. Superdrug, with 2% PPC share, is repositioning as a lifestyle destination by expanding its online marketplace into fashion, while also supporting Pride 2025 through inclusive micro-donation initiatives.
What does the health & beauty industry currently look like?
The online health and beauty industry is one of the leading segments of online retail, and sales in the UK grew by 11% YoY in 2024. A key reason for the growth is the rise of social commerce, TikTok has emerged as the UK’s fourth largest beauty retailer, with sales via TikTok Shop projected to more than double from £7.4 billion in 2024 to £15.7 billion by 2028.
The online powerhouse that is Amazon remain on top but high street brands; Boots and Superdrug closely follow. Boots remain competitive with a respectable 15 million monthly website visits. The Hut Group (owner of Look Fantastic and Cult Beauty) remain a major online player with around £1.75 billion in revenue in 2024.
What’s trending? Brands who focus on mobile-first, tech-enabled, and socially driven strategies, all while staying sustainable, are best positioned to win online.
What is the ASK BOSCO index?
The ASK BOSCO® Index measures how well a brand performs online by analysing four key areas: Paid Search, SEO, broader digital marketing activity, and website quality.
Scores range from 0 to 1000, with most businesses landing somewhere around the 500 on average.
A higher score means your digital marketing efforts are more advanced and better aligned. Think of it as a performance gauge for your digital presence, the closer you are to 1000, the more competitive and optimised your online strategy is.
Who topped the health & beauty league table?
Amazon
Amazon remains the dominant broad-spectrum platform, combining marketplace scale with beauty offerings. They lead with the highest PPC click share (7.06%) and ad spend (8–11%).
This year, Amazon extended its Prime Day sale to four days (July 8–11, 2025), a major shift from the usual two-day format. Basketball star LeBron James starred in their new ads, creatively positioning the event as an opportunity for discovery, like LeBron exploring new paths in his career.
Amazon has been heavily promoting its new AI shopping assistant “Rufus”, marketing it within the Prime Day campaign to help customers navigate and find personalized deals.
As well as this, ahead of Prime Day, Amazon launched guides and expanded its ad tools:
- A Prime Day playbook for small businesses to improve visibility and sales during the event.
- Updates to Sponsored Display campaigns in April to better optimise for conversions, emphasizing how ad tech plays into their ecosystem positioning.
- A focus on purpose driven and sustainable brand messaging via new Amazon Ads features, aiming to strengthen trust and DEI narratives.
Boots
Boots are the biggest pure‑play beauty retailer, with 6.6% PPC clicks, and consistent ad spend around 6–8%.
Boots have been successfully running the “Savvy Savers” value campaign since the start of 2025. A multi-channel TV, video, audio, DOOH, print, YouTube, and social campaign featuring customers in photobooths celebrating their savings with the tagline: “Snap Your Savings”.
First party data and personalisation were central in this campaign, aimed at shoppers with low‑AOV buys. The result? Provide huge value offers such as 50 % off top brands, plus Advantage Card specific deals and “essentials at £2 and under” promotions.
Here’s why Boots came in at second place:
- A clear value-first positioning, aligning campaigns around smart shopping during financially tight periods.
- Personalisation is key; first party targeting, dynamic digital ads, and an omnichannel approach.
- OOH innovation and bold physical campaigns reinforce brand dominance in the beauty
- Their loyalty program continues to deepen engagement and expand earning channels measurably.
Superdrug
Superdrug are the UK’s second largest high street health & beauty retailer with a 2% PPC click share. Superdrug are aiming to position themselves as a broader lifestyle destination, boosting online traffic and customer retention.
In May this year, they have revamped their online marketplace, adding 60 fashion brands such as Nike, Wrangler, Jack & Jones, Regatta, and inclusive plus-size collections. This move opens a new opportunity to connect with a large and highly engaged customer base that already loves these brands, unlocking new potential for online growth.
Despite criticism of superficial LGBTQIA+ support, Superdrug’s initiative for this year’s Pride season allows shoppers to round up purchases to donate to Switchboard, a UK-based LGBTQIA+ helpline service, via the micro-donation platform Pennies. The campaign is active in all UK stores and features social media messaging by British drag queen Tia Kofi, popularized by the reality TV show Drag Race UK.
If you’d like to learn more about the ASK BOSCO® Index and other functionality within the ASK BOSCO® platform – or if you’d just like us to rank your brand on the Index, please get in touch with the team at team@askbosco.com
