Case Analysis of BOOTS: HAIR-CARE SALES PROMOTION, a Harvard Business Case.

1. HBR CASE ANALYSIS
BOOTS: HAIR-CARE SALES
PROMOTION

2. OBJECTIVE
• To drive sales volumes of Boots and trade-up consumers
from lower-value brands, while retaining or building
brand equity.

3. CASE SITUATION
To select one of the three promotional alternatives for sales
promotional strategy.
• Get three for the price of two.
• Receive a Gift with purchase.
• An on pack coupon worth 50 pence.

4. DECISIONS: OPTIONS
THREE FOR TWO
• Buy two hair-care items at regular price and receive one
free.
• Combine any three items, but they must be of same
brand.
• Free item would be the one that is the least expensive of
the three items selected.

5. DECISION: OPTIONS(contd.)
GIFT WITH PURCHASE
• A product sample along with a regular purchase.
• For example, a sample size of conditioner would be
packaged
with a regular bottle of shampoo

6. DECISION: OPTIONS(contd.)
ON-PACK COUPON
• The 50p off offer.
• Can redeem the coupon instantly.

7. DECISION: CRITERIA
UNITED KINGDOM HAIR-CARE MARKET
• Brands such as Pantene Pro-V and Head and Shoulders
by Procter and Gamble, Alberto VO5 by Alberto-Culver,
and Elvive by L’Oreal.
• Widely available in supermarkets such as Tesco,
Sainsbury’s and Morrison's, and at drug retailers
including Boots and Superdrug.

8. BOOTS’S STRATEGY
• To be the retail hair-care expert and to offer the latest
ranges.
• To build a new market by using celebrity
endorsements to create awareness and create an
emotional attachment between consumers and the brand.

9. HAIR-CARE PRODUCT
RETAILERS

10. CONSUMERS
• Not very brand loyal, changing shampoo brands
produced better results.
• Trends in buying behaviour led to changing preferences.
From gentle hair in 70s to detangling in 80s and to have
shiny hair in 90s.
• Choices varying on brand name, packaging, advertising,
price, ingredients, consistency, fragrance.

11. RELEVANT EVIDENCES
• Women in the 20-35 age category purchased
professional brands, more affluent than buyers of mass-
market brands.
• Most Boots consumers bought both basic and premium
brands.
• Other customers bought basic products for everyday use
and premium products for special occasions.

12. EVALUATION
THREE FOR TWO
• If 100 units of hair care product were sold per day before
the promotion, 300 bottles would be sold per day during
the promotion (including the free bottles).
• 60 per cent of sales would be to Boots shoppers that
would not have otherwise purchased a hair-care product
from Boots during the promotional period.

13. EVALUATION(contd.)
GIFT WITH PURCHASE
• Sales during the promotional period would be 170 per
cent of sales that would have occurred without the
promotion.
• 40 per cent of sales would be to Boots shoppers that
would not have otherwise purchased a hair-care product
from Boots during the promotional period.

14. EVALUATION(contd.)
ON-PACK COUPON
• Sales would increase to 150 per cent of non-promotion
sales because December would be a heavy promotional
period for mass market brands.
• 50 per cent of sales would be to Boots shoppers that
would not have otherwise purchased a hair-care product
from Boots during the promotional period.

15. BOOTS OBJECTIVE ACHIEVED
• To secure market leadership in the United Kingdom in
the hair-care segment.
• Contracts with some of the most prestigious salon
brands in the United Kingdom.
• Profitable Promotions.
• Maintaining and enhancing the professional hair-care
brands.

16. DISCLAIMER
• Created by Mayank Tanwar, IIT Delhi, during
Marketing Management Internship 2016
under Prof. Sameer Mathur, IIM Lucknow.