Department stores add cosmetics to discounted offering

By

Rebecca Taras

Published
Jul 12, 2017

While beauty brands at counters nationwide have always been protected from being discounted, due to declining sales across the board, the department is losing this exemption.

This recent news comes on the heels of retail shares falling, including at Macy’s, where stocks have fallen by close to seven percent.

While it’s important to point out that department stores have previously dabbled with the idea of putting cosmetics on sale, anything in the cosmetic department area that is showcased under glass at a counter was usually excluded. Recently, however, Macy’s discounted both makeup and skincare products while Bloomingdale’s granted “loyalist” customers discounts online and in-store through the remainder of the year.

It was reported that many industry experts feel that even discounting previously protected beauty products won’t help department stores as a whole—in fact, it may actually do more harm than good. Case in point, Lord & Taylor and Bloomingdale’s previously offered discounts, only to see stocks decline when the sales ended. Regardless, due to shift in the retail climate, it is becoming more widely accepted that discounting cosmetics may become a more permanent change.