Boots are the UK’s leading health & beauty retailer, but their app has always fallen short for me as a consumer. It is difficult to browse and make a purchase, and the app feels more functional and clinical than an engaging platform to browse the latest beauty brands and trends.
The Problem
Boots have been investing in stocking premium, viral beauty brands such as Huda and Fenty in an effort to stay relevant in a saturated market with an emphasis on promotions and discounts.
They face fierce competition online from the likes of Feelunique and Lookfantastic, even Amazon, who all offer heavily discounted products with a low barrier to fast, free or cheap delivery.
Boots' main proposition is their in-store experience, but with decreasing footfall on UK high streets, their app experience needs to match up to this.
Existing app experience teardown
Initial exploration and ideas
Analysis
After reviewing the in-app experience and user journeys for Boots, I took to their competitors to complete a full analysis and see what they're doing differently.
There were many similarities between the competitors – not necessarily good ones! – so this was a good lesson in how Boots could remain a market disruptor whilst also measuring up to the competition.
What I found:
✅ All look very similar in terms of UI
✅ Clean black and white UI to allow colour of products to pop\
✅ All rely on special offers to lead homepage
✅ All have some connection to social media/trends
✅ All quite content-heavy and not very well considered UI & layout
✅ Heavily reliant on discounts and viral brands
✅ Focus on the most popular/exclusive brands
Final designs
Steve Teeple (better known as Teeps) is a digital artist currently residing in the city of Los Angeles, CA where he dreams of vast 3D worlds and mind bending characters.
Homepage ideation
Homepage final
Advantage Card drawer ideation
Shop ideation
Shop final