Reports on the release of Walgreens Boots Alliance’s results late last week mainly focused on the firm’s overall turnaround but within the figures, there’s no hiding the fact that UK chain Boots specifically is continuing to perform strongly.

The beauty and pharmacy giant celebrated as it saw a successful Black Friday period in the three months to 30 November. And given that the Black Friday season was late this year, it’s to be hoped that the impact continued into the current quarter too.

Unfortunately, the company isn’t planning to deliver a Christmas trading update and we won’t know any details about the period until its next set of quarterly figures due in a few months’ time. 

But the retailer has said that “early indications suggest a solid Christmas trading period”.

As for that quarter to the end of November, Boots UK’s retail division saw sales up 8.1% and its webstore saw a 23% sales rise to account for 22% of total sales. The retailer also said its app now has 8.1 million active members.

Sales rose 20% during Black Friday week and on the day itself, it enjoyed its biggest-ever day of digital sales, with two bottles of fragrance sold every second.

Analysts were impressed and GlobalData’s Tash Van Boxel said:“Boots’ retail fascia has maintained momentum, up 8.1% on an impressive 9.8% growth in Q1 FY2023/24, benefiting from an increased consumer desire to shop for Black Friday in 2024. 

“Indeed, Boots retained its position as the first port of call for health & beauty purchases during the Black Friday promotional period, with a quarter of health & beauty shoppers opting for Boots for their purchases for Black Friday this year, according to GlobalData’s 2024 Black Friday report. 

“Though some consumers used the promotional period to buy Christmas gifts, demand for fragrance and beauty was also high – likely driven by an increase in consumers shopping for themselves during the occasion. 

“Aside from its success during Black Friday, Boots’ beauty category outperformed throughout the period, with sales up 11% this quarter.”

She also said that “Boots’ online channel has excelled. [The] strong result was due to Boots’ enhancing its online platforms, with features such as ‘trending on social’ outlined as a shopping category to ensure consumers do not switch away to more dynamic retailers, such as Cult Beauty and Sephora.”

But even with the powerful performance, the company’s still-new MD Anthony Hemmerdinger has warned of “heightened cost pressures” this year following the Autumn Budget.

Yet he also said “the business is focused on navigating these and continuing to deliver long-term, sustainable growth”.