Woolworths Expands Beauty Push to Kenya After Demand Jumps

Woolworths Holdings Ltd. is expanding its beauty offering to Kenya, building on a strategy that has doubled sales of the category over the past two years at home in South Africa.

In stores in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, the South African retailer will stock a range of global brands including Fenty Beauty, Chanel fragrances, Estée Lauder creams and its own WBeauty line. The move follows the expansion of the department into Namibia and Botswana.

“A few years ago, we strategically made a call to really go after beauty in all of our markets, starting with South Africa,” chief executive officer Roy Bagattini said in the Kenyan capital. Beauty is cultural, and Nairobi is a trendsetting city with creative consumers who enjoy self-expression, what better place to “bring this beauty proposition and test it out,” he said.

Woolworths has doubled its revenue from the beauty division to more than 1 billion rand ($58 million) in the past two years and expects to do so again in the next couple of years, he said. That compares with about 16 billion rand of revenue from the Fashion, Beauty and Home business, he said.

Collectively, Woolworths’ 70 stores on the rest of the continent are growing faster than those in South Africa, driven mainly by the fashion business, and now contribute as much as 20% of FBH revenue, he said. The company plans to roll out more outlets as real estate opportunities arise.

The retailer’s focus in its 10 African markets has been on fashion and, to a lesser extent, homeware, but it now plans to expand its beauty and home sections and, where appropriate, introduce food concepts, Bagattini said.

Several markets closer to South Africa are more conducive to the food business, which is primarily a fresh, private-label offering, he said.

“We’re committed to Africa, these markets we’re in fact doubling down on,” he said. “I know a lot of other retailers are withdrawing, but we’ve been in Africa for 30 years, and our businesses are successful and growing.”

By Helen Nyambura

Learn more:

South African Retailer Woolworths’ Annual Profits Surge 212%

The retailer declared a final dividend of 66 cents per share, a 25.8 percent drop from last year’s figure. Sales of fashion, beauty and home goods rose 3.5 percent and gained momentum in the second half of the year.