Health and beauty retailer Superdrug has launched Store Insider, new feature on Superdrug.com that ensures online customers are able to get the same personal service and expert advice as when visiting a Superdrug store.

The Superdrug Store Insider service connects online users to Superdrug store colleagues for support and recommendation when buying fragrance and makeup – two categories where browsing and recommendation are key to customer experience.

The Store Insider technology is being trialled in four Superdrug stores - Westwood Cross, Leicester Fosse Park, Basildon Mayflower, Oxford Westgate – with a view to being extended across the store estate if successful.

To access the service, Superdrug.com shoppers simply hit the ‘Store Insider’ button to connect to a member of the Superdrug in-store team, who will help them find the right product or fragrance. Selected items can then be added to their basket before the user completes their payment as normal via the website.

Matt Walburn, Superdrug’s eCommerce Director, says: “The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly accelerated the growth of our Superdrug.com business and we are passionate to provide a market leading online experience for all our customers. Traditionally a bricks and mortar business, Superdrug has long had a reputation for expert health and beauty advice in store. So now, in a time when customers are shopping online for safety and convenience, we want to ensure we can offer that same personal shopping approach, just from the comfort of a customer’s own living room. A big part of our ecommerce strategy is about humanising the online shopping experience.”

Superdrug’s online innovation is championed by owner, A.S.Watson Group, whose focus is on a leading O+O strategy to link its vast store estate with online channels without the limitation of locations and time.