By Oonagh Phillips Editor in Chief, BW Confidential

In beauty retailing the bigger the store, the better. Or at least that has been the thinking up to now, with beauty retailers often presenting their largest stores as the perfect platform for showing off their image and stocking a wide assortment of brands and products.

But the big store may be losing its luster. As consumers begin to shop more online, analysts say that there will be less of a need for large stores. Indeed, retail downsizing has already begun in some industries. US-based office supply chain Staples for example, said it would cut the size of its stores, partly due to competition from internet commerce, while electronics retailer Best Buy revealed that it too would reduce its store size and sublet space to other companies.

While the average perfumery may not be the same size as some of these big-box retailers, it should nonetheless take note. Online sales are growing in beauty, and although there is little available data, it’s almost certain that this channel is taking sales from traditional brick-and- mortar stores.

This may not be a reason for retailers to focus on smaller stores quite yet, but it could nonetheless make them rethink their space. Without embarking on smaller stores, they could reduce the space devoted to traditional selling – or basically shelves of product. If consumers can get products, in some instances more conveniently online, retailers may be better off using more of their square footage to showcase an expertise and point of difference, either through advice stations, service areas or workshops about specific categories or products. Retailers may have a hard time not pushing product into every available square inch of space, but if they can attract more traffic and create more buzz through non-product areas, they may just generate more sales both in-store and online.

Oonagh Phillips Editor in Chief, BW Confidential