Why does the beauty industry boom as the high street suffers? – Retail Sector lead speaks to the BBC

Bharat, an expert on the high street and retail sector, gave his take on the latest figures around the growth of the beauty industry.

“These latest figures are a boom against a fairly gloomy economic outlook. At one end of the scale we have the likes of Topshop, which has introduced an in-store beauty range as it battles to improve the customer experience by offering customers a truly one stop shopping experience, where you can leave the store ready to go from head to toe.

“At the other end we have independent nail bars and beauty salons popping up on high streets up and down the country.

"These small businesses are succeeding because you cannot buy these services online.

"The beauty industry (whether it’s nail bars, tanning shops or men’s barbers styling beards) are plugging the gap left by other businesses which have fallen victim to high business rates, increasing employment costs, and the squeeze on spending.

"These outlets are serving local communities and are becoming hubs for people to socialise.

However - a word of warning - as we are seeing so many of these new units appearing, we are heading towards an increasingly saturated market. With the industry giants making lateral moves into the beauty industry, independents will likely struggle to compete on price, and will need to find a way to differentiate themselves from other operators. They must keep meeting the customer demand for an experience!”