Dermalogica fights back as Boots stocks brand
Dermalogica has hit back at Boots after the high street health and beauty chain started stocking the professional skincare brand in some of its larger stores and online.
Dermalogica has sent out a letter to its 6,000+ stockists, informing them that five Boots locations Victoria Centre in Nottingham, Meadow Hall in Sheffield, White Friars in Canterbury, Bluewater in Kent and Westfield in Derby as well as Boots.com have started stocking some of its products, but that Boots is not an authorised stockist and that it believes the retail giant has acquired the products through a third-party supplier.
Although we have been approached many times by Boots, we have steadfastly refused to supply, and continue to refuse to do so, said Glenn Poy, general manager of Dermalogica UK.
The acquisition and sale of products through a third-party supplier is not illegal, although Dermalogica is working hard to prevent Boots from continuing with this strategy. The Professional Beauty Award-winning skincare brand is consulting with its lawyers, investigating accounts that may be supplying Boots, with a view to shutting them down; has set up a confidential hotline and email account to receive tip-offs about the Boots supply channels and is pledging a £500 reward to anyone providing conclusive information that leads to the closure of the account. The company is also considering taking advertisements in a national newspaper to publicise the importance of being sold through authorised stockists.
Nevertheless, Boots is adamant that it will continue to offer Dermalogica to offer its customers the most comprehensive range of skincare products on the high street, according to a Boots spokesperson. . . .it is our preference to deal with the brand owners direct where possible. We are keen to forge a relationship with Dermalogica, however, so far our attempts have not been reciprocated.
The brand was unable to comment further on whether it would offer the range in more stores or how it got hold of the line and whether the line would be offered as part of its three for two promotion. There are 12 products available on line, ranging in price from £16.50 for the Soothing Eye Make- Up Remover to £34.84 for the Skin Smoothing Cream, which constitutes a discount of around 8%.
Dermalogica's founder and owner Jane Wurwand has always been adamant that her brand should only be stocked by professionally trained therapists who know how to diagnose skin using the company's Face Mapping system, and prescribe from the range accordingly. She has also been clear that her vision has been to support therapists and salon owners' businesses rather than supplying channels that would vie for their homecare sales business.
Poy believes that a wider distribution could damage the brand and negatively impact on existing authorised accounts, a view endorsed by Dawn Monk, co-owner of Madoka. Her salon is under five minutes' walk from Derby's Westfield Centre Boots, which is stocking Dermalogica. This makes a mockery of the brand and I can imagine Dermalogica are so upset about it. We get a lot of walk-ins and sell huge amounts of Dermalogica, but we only ever do it after a full Face Mapping consultation or a facial. Other stockists will not do the same because they won't have been trained as well as my therapists.
Monk is adamant that Boots decision to stock the brand will impact on her business. We have a lot of loyal clients but I worry people will get their prescription from us, and go to Boots to buy it cheaper.
It's a concern shared by Tara Gill, manager of Beauty Glow Salon in Nottingham, which also has a nearby Boots selling Dermalogica. It's hard for us to compete when companies like this are selling professional brands and people can collect Advantage Points or get them cheaper. A smaller salon like us can not compete.
Monk insisted she'll fight off the challenge by emphasising that only professionally trained therapists can prescribe skincare that works. High street stores often just ask if your skin is dry or oily, but it's more complex than that. Salespeople may advocate, for example, the AgeSmart cleanser, but that is quite strong, and you shouldn't really use it every day if you have dry skin. Customers could try it, find it doesn't work and that could put them off the brand.
The free Dermalogica training is absolutely amazing and you can give clients fantastic results if it is diagnosed correctly, she said. One of my therapists diagnosed a possible liver problem in a client the other day after she had just done an advanced Chinese Face Mapping course. You wouldn't get that in Boots.
Poy agreed: Boots does not have Dermalogica-trained qualified skin therapists available to provide consultation and appropriate product recommendations. We are committed to our relationship with our loyal Dermalogica accounts and continue to be the partner of professional skincare centres and salons.
. They are without doubt going into outlets. I also think it's funny how if a company worth over 1 Billion dollars is offering a £500 reward for information...they must be really anxious to find the villan with this reward! 
