Christmas is a key trading period for any retailer, and the UK retail landscape has become ever more competitive over recent years.

As a veteran of the high street, Boots had become synonymous with 3for2’s but was failing to attract younger, more promiscuous shoppers. They needed consumers to reappraise Boots offering, creating a shift from a convenient stop for stocking fillers to a thoughtful gift shopping destination.

Everyone has someone in their life who’s difficult to buy for. So, this Christmas Boots created THE BOOTIQUES - Highly-targeted, disruptive shoppable experiences, each introducing a surprising product category (Love, Sleep, Tweenager).

Exposing what Boots has to offer, repositioning the products as thoughtful gifts, and proving that Boots can really help every Christmas shopper #GiftLikeYouGetThem.

We all suffer from the ‘modern gifting dilemma’. Everyone has someone in their life who is difficult to buy for, from insomniacs to moody tweenagers to their lovers. And with over 2,500 stores across the UK, Boots has extensive knowledge about British consumers and what they love. So we leveraged Boots extensive database to curate Boots products into bespoke ranges and retail experiences - answering gifting problems, no matter how niche.

Each BOOTIQUE location was carefully chosen:

The Heels Over Head Bootique

Londoners are more likely to prioritise their sexual wellbeing the most - spending 32% more money and spending twice as long having sex.

The Dreaming of Sleep Bootique

Only 54% of Liverpudlians report sleeping well (Time4Sleep, 2016), making it the second most sleep-deprived city in the UK.

The Tweenager Bootique

Known as the ‘Tween Capital of UK’, Birmingham has 45% more Gen Z-ers than the national average.

From product selection to sound design and staffing, every detail of each BOOTIQUE was developed from scratch. Creatives, designers, producers and managers, working closely for 12 weeks to deliver three BOOTIQUES (and a press launch) in three unique locations at concurrent times.

Each unique experience lived for a week-long. All preceded by a one-day campaign launch in London, that communicated the entirety of the #GiftLikeYouGetThem to press & influences

The Heels Over Head Bootique

An upside-down boudoir with sexual wellbeing products changed people’s perspective on love. Literally.

The Dreaming of Sleep Bootique

A pair of sleepy-eyed domes invited people to learn about sleep and how Boots is here to help.

The Tweenager Bootique

A colour-coded experience used the power of emojis to make grown-ups ‘get’ tweens and find gifts for all their moods

Twenty-five specially-chosen influencers attended the pop-ups to build buzz and credibility with specific customer targets.

14,000 visitors in 3 weeks, of which 73% discovered products they didn’t know were sold in Boots, and 75% reappraised what Boots is all about.*

The seamless integration of experience and commerce through the gift bag propositions and contactless pay terminals led to sales 60% above expectations and converted positive sentiment to immediate sales.

And we reached way beyond the experiences themselves with 21,570,652 social media reach from influencers’ Instagram stories, 878,000 impressions from Boots social channels and 2,223,965 OTS from 15 pieces of press coverage. 72% of visitors shared their photos on social media

This Christmas, we turned missable everyday products into gifting opportunities through unique experiences, allowing consumers to see Boots in a more modern and relevant light.

* Stats from exist surveys during live events