Research published today shows that Boots lost further ground to supermarkets in 2005 as its share of Britain's health and beauty market tumbled to its lowest level for eight years.
The retailer lost 0.6 points of its market share after Tesco and rival supermarkets increased the amount of space devoted to grooming ranges and instigated price cuts, market research firm Verdict said.
The report also warned Boots that its £7 billion merger with Alliance UniChem would do little to boost its share of the health and beauty products market, which currently stands at 25.1%. That is because Alliance is more focused on pharmacies located close to hospitals and doctors' surgeries rather than the UK high street.
If the merged chain kept its share level, the combined chain would achieve 26.3%, but this is likely to be a short-term gain that will be very hard to improve on in such a competitive market, Verdict said.
