The agreement aims to leverage the knowledge of the Boots Contract Manufacturing business (BCM) to create private label beauty products for Carrefour outlets.
BCM will manufacture beauty products taken from Boots formulations, which will be sold under the Carrefour brand name, a Carrefour spokesperson told CosmeticsDesign-Europe.com.
While it is too early to confirm details, the spokesperson said, it is likely that the range will include colour cosmetics, skin care, hair care and bath and shower products.
Beauty core pillar of new hypermarket concept
Carrefour is currently reinventing its hypermarket format with the launch of its ‘Planet’ concept, of which beauty is a core pillar along with other categories such as fashion and multimedia.
“The new Planet stores aim at reinventing the shopping experience and turning the hypermarket into a destination, notably through delighting the customers with redesigned, more spacious and user‐friendly stores organized around specialist poles,” the spokesperson explained.
Carrefour’s CEO, Lars Olofsson has said that the partnership between Alliance Boots and Carrefour is expected to help the company increase its attractiveness in the beauty category, and be a major contributor in terms of making it a preferred retailer for beauty products.
While Carrefour Group has over 15,500 stores in 33 countries, details regarding which outlets and countries will carry the products resulting from the cooperation have not been communicated.
Alliance Boots partnerships with major players
Carrefour is not the first retailer with which Alliance Boots has forged an agreement. In 2009, Alliance Boots sealed a trial partnership with the British retailer Waitrose to sell its health and beauty products in selected Waitrose stores and stock Waitrose food products in several Boots outlets.
In 2010, Alliance Boots signed an agreement with consumer products company Procter & Gamble to continue the European roll out of its Laboratoires brand, sold in France and Portugal, with plans to launch it in Spain and Italy.