Data: Sosandar and Superdrug smash ecommerce growth – find out how

Asda, Next, Amazon and Screwfix were named among the top retailers for total forecasted sales (FY23) in the main ranking of The UK’s Top 30 Ecommerce Retailers report. However, when it comes to online sales growth, it’s the disruptors – and surprisingly some heritage retailers – topping the charts.  

Fenwick and Sosandar have maintained pole positions as first and second for online sales growth respectively, with retailers including Lululemon, Beauty Pie and Moonpig also making the list alongside 25 others. 

The report, produced in association with Ecommpay, Rithum and Zendesk, explores the strategies and tools powering these brands’ rapid accelerations and what others can learn from their success stories.  

Below we explore the strategies of two of the top 30 retailers by online sales growth to see just what makes them tick – download the full report to see if your business has made the list. View the top 30 here. 

Sosandar – 2

Priorities: 

• Mobile-first strategy 
• Leveraging third-party partnerships 
• Focus on personalisation 

Up two places on the growth ranking from last year, Sosandar has been growing at a phenomenal rate – with a 44.1% increase in sales in FY2022.  

Following its “milestone” first year of profitability in 2022, the young brand is fast becoming a major player, with an estimated five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.5%.  

Investment in personalisation and segmentation tools and the launch of the Sosandar app in 2023 are reinforcing customer experiences, with the brand gearing up to open its first UK stores and looking to international expansion in Australia and Canada in the coming months. 

While many retailers have legacy infrastructure to contend with, there is a lot to be learned from Sosandar’s approach. In 2016 the retailer constructed its modern mobile-first website with customer experience at its heart.

A focus on content-rich design, merging ecommerce with editorial including fashion ideas, trends advice and styling tips are just a few ways the brand is trying to stand out in a highly competitive market.  

While Sosandar’s own website does sit at the heart of its success, it also sells through third-party partners including John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Next, The Very Group and JD Williams.  

In an interview with Retail Week in June 2023, co-chief executives Ali Hall and Julie Lavington said that partnerships are “very important” to the brand but that its “own site is the hub of where we start and that will always be the absolute hub of what we do”.  

Superdrug – 14

Priorities: 

• Democratising own-brand products 
• Customer-first mindset  
• Ambitious price-cutting strategy 

Coming in at 14th on our growth retailer ranking, with sales growth of 9.9% in FY2022, Superdrug also climbed into 30th place in the top 30 by total forecast online sales for FY2023/24. And, with an estimated five-year CAGR of 9.6%, this is clearly no fluke for the beauty retailer.  

Customer experience sits at the heart of the brand’s digital strategy. Matt Walburn, ecommerce director at Superdrug, told Retail Week that Superdrug.com is a “central pillar” of its online and offline strategy, following an intensive digital development programme that included a website replatform, accessibility improvements and the relaunch of its mobile app.  

And it’s not just user experience that Superdrug has been prioritising. In response to the cost-of-living crisis, it rolled out price cuts including 50% off more than 150 of its own-brand everyday items, limited-period price freezes on more than 5,000 favourites and its “earliest ever” reductions on a range of Christmas gifts,with a further announcement in March that price freezes will remain until summer 2024 for make-up products from brands including Rimmel, Elf, Maybelline and it’s own Studio London range.

Superdrug’s most loyal customers now benefit even more with the launch of the brand’s new VIP reward scheme in October 2023.

Health & Beautycard members who had already spent £300 with the retailer were automatically promoted to receive in-app VIP membership, unlocking access to 12 months of offers including an “always on” 10% discount on own-brand products.  

Superdrug’s own-brand make-up line Studio London has significantly exceeded expectations, driving 20% year-on-year growth in the cosmetics category, giving the retailer a 40% market share of mass-market cosmetics – its highest in a decade, making it its fastest-growing own-brand range ever.

Revolving around a low-price, high-quality proposition facilitated by a deliberately low marketing budget, the range aims to “democratise” products and retain customers.