Boots to supply all health products for Sainsbury
Boots is to supply the entire health, beauty and pharmacy
product range for six out-of-town superstores run by Sainsbury’s.
If the year-long trial, starting in the new year, is successful, it could
lead to a much larger arrangement between the two companies.
As part of the trial, the Boots range of 10,000
health and beauty products will replace Sainsbury’s existing range of
4,500 products and occupy clearly branded space within the Sainsbury’s
stores. The six pilot stores will all have pharmacies and these will be
run by staff from Boots under a franchise arrangement.
Customers will be able to pay for all health and
beauty products, except pharmacy items, at the main tills and will be
able to collect both Boots’s and Sainsbury’s loyalty scheme points on
relevant items. Boots currently has five pharmacies trading in Sainsbury’s
stores, but these are all stand-alone concessions with separate payment
points.
Steve Russell, chief executive of the Boots Co Plc,
says that a significant proportion of health and beauty purchasing is
now done out-of-town. “This arrangement with Sainsbury’s enables us to
reach out-of-town shoppers, in line with our strategy, quickly and cost
effectively. It will supplement our own store development programme.”
A spokesman for Boots repeated that the companies
were not talking about a merger.
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