M&S Beauty has this week announced a new online and in-store partnership with one of the biggest skincare and make-up brands in the world – Clinique.
From this summer c.500 Clinique products for women and men will be available on M&S.com for free next day delivery or click & collect to over 700 locations.
The product selection includes all of the brand’s bestsellers, such as the cult original Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion+ which is sold every minute in the UK*. Additionally, 34 destination M&S stores from Leeds to London Colney will have a Clinique counter with experts on hand (mock-up pictured below), whilst a further 40 stores will have product available displayed in a bespoke Clinique fixture – including in M&S Menswear sections.
The partnership with Clinique, the brand which launched the first ever line of dermatologist developed skincare in 1968 and continues to be the UK’s #1 Prestige Moisturiser brand** is part of a strategic focus from M&S Beauty on skincare.
Skincare is an area of beauty which was more resilient during the pandemic, growing as customers had more time at home to consider their skin routine, this included growth in the men’s skincare market.
For many, healthy skincare routines are considered important for their wellness, and with Clinique’s custom-fit approach, Marks & Spencer customers will be able to find simple yet effective skincare routines from trusted experts and Clinique’s skin analysis technology tool, Clinical Reality.
With 50+ years’ worth of research and science, Clinique incorporates the same skincare knowledge into its makeup, helping consumers improve and protect their skin every time they wear foundation, with the bestselling Even Better Makeup range.
Both the instore and online shopping experiences have been curated with the Marks & Spencer consumer in mind, with easy navigation highlighting solutions for skin concerns and makeup looks for every day or occasions.
Brands at M&S
The M&S partnership with Clinique comes as the rollout of third-party clothing brands on M&S.com continues to go from strength to strength – the average online basket size for clothing brands is more than twice the average for M&S.com with brands contributing c.3.5% of total online sales in the first half of the year.
Richard Price, MD of M&S Clothing & Home, said, “A compelling beauty offer is part of our plans to reshape M&S – innovating with our own brands and continuing to introduce complementary third-party products such as skincare experts Clinique. Our broad customer base and reach makes us an attractive platform partner and in turn, introducing beauty brands helps us become more relevant, more often for our 22m customers – offering them a convenient and seamless shopping experience. We’re also pleased to be introducing a bespoke in-store offer in our destination stores where we know customers appreciate having someone on hand to help with purchasing.”
Rachel Baker, Vice President/General Manager Clinique UK + Ireland, said, “This is an extremely exciting time for Clinique to be entering into one of the UK’s most iconic and trusted high street shopping destinations. Marks & Spencer offer a convenient hybrid shopping experience, and we want to make it accessible for consumers to purchase their favourite Clinique products seamlessly, whilst shopping in-store or online. We aim to provide dermatologist-developed personalised skincare and makeup routines from our experts and for consumers to be able to self-discover their skin’s needs on Clinique’s Clinical Reality tool, helping Marks & Spencer consumers to achieve healthy skin at any age.”
The new partnership comes as M&S Beauty is changing at pace to be more relevant more often to customers through both exclusive own brand products (including Apothecary which has grown to a £20m brand in just two years) and complementary third-party brands including Aveda, Origins, REN, Emma Hardie, Eve Lom and Prai. Last year c.15% of M&S Clothing & Home customers shopped beauty which represents an opportunity for growth by encouraging cross-category shopping through various initiatives and M&S’s loyalty scheme, Sparks.
