Walmart Canada is expanding its beauty offering with additional inclusive beauty brands.
Rosslyn Barbuzzi, Senior Category Manager, Cosmetics for the retailer, said that as one of the country’s largest retailers Walmart felt it was a priority to make sure that its customers were seeing themselves in the beauty assortment.
“We felt we had a gap versus our customers in terms of our offering. What we did in order to seek out new brands is we hosted a Beauty Summit earlier this year. It was a chance for us to meet all sorts of beauty brands. Some of them were big. Some of them were small,” she said.
“We met them virtually over the course of two days to see what else was out there that we could possibly look at to add to our assortment. And really the goal of the beauty summit was to make it easier for new, emerging and smaller beauty and skin care brands to find their products on our shelves at Walmart.
“So we looked at brands that would have a unique product offering but that were also truly inclusive at their core in terms of the actual company themselves. That led us to be able to launch several exciting new brands in-store and online. And we’ve got more coming in the New Year as well.”
That will include the launch of more than 300 new products. A number of the products are women, IBPOC and 2SLGBTQ+ owned and founded.
“The products will be available in select stores just as any product that we carry today often isn’t necessarily in every store,” she said, but they will be represented in various stores across the chain and online.
“We’re constantly renovating our stores so we’re always looking to optimize our total cosmetics department and that actually has allowed us some space in order to bring in some of these new brands and products.
“When our customers are shopping at Walmart, and they’re shopping in beauty, we want them to be able to choose from some of our existing assortment which is legacy brands they know and love already but also to be surprised and delighted with some emerging brands and new offerings that maybe they can’t get anywhere else. Things that are exclusive to the market or unique product offerings that we don’t currently offer today.
“So we really wanted to make sure as we were looking for new brands and new assortments that they were truly items and brands that would create a more diverse assortment for our customers.
“Through this Beauty Summit we’re partnering with smaller brands that we historically haven’t been able to work with and that’s in part because Walmart is a large retailer, a complex retailer, to work with. So I’m really proud that we’ve actually been able to partner and work hand in hand with these smaller suppliers and in some cases this is the first time that they’re actually working with a retailer . . . We’ve collaborated with each and every one of these vendors to ensure that they’re getting the best start with us. We’re working hand in hand with them to make sure that they’re truly set up for success when working with Walmart and seeing their products come to life in stores and online with us.”
Some of the new products include:
- UOMA by Sharon C. proudly Black-owned, this brand focuses on inclusive beauty beyond shade range, delivering quality to all humans. With 30 foundation shades available, the offering encompasses a variety of skin tones and undertones. The colour cosmetics, complexion and skin care products are vegan, cruelty-free and eco-friendly. Walmart is the exclusive Canadian retailer for this brand;
- Prideful creates products that are gender non-specific, catering to the individual with pride and purpose all year long. It will be launching in-store and online at Walmart Canada with a selection of bath and colour cosmetics. Prideful will be available exclusively at Walmart Canada;
- Lottie London offers the latest in beauty innovation with products that are inclusive, affordable and cruelty-free. Founded by industry veteran Charlotte Knight, beauty buffs can expect trend-focused cosmetics, nail products and brushes from the line. Lottie London is another Walmart Canada exclusive brand;
- Bubble is a tea-based bath and beauty brand inspired by the bubble tea phenomenon. This women-owned cruelty-free brand launched in 2014 and is exclusively available at Walmart Canada;
- [re]fresh Skin Therapy is a vegan, gluten-free, cruelty-free brand of skin care products created by Joanna Shu and made in the USA. Founded in 2013, [re]fresh Skin Therapy focuses on creating products that work on even the most sensitive skin types with natural and environmentally friendly ingredients;
- Apothecary by Dr. Botanicals brings vegan skin care with formulations that harness nature’s goodness, energy and vitamins to Walmart. This ethically-made line does not test on animals and focuses on creating problem-solving natural products for everyone, based in science and research. Apothecary by Dr. Botanicals is proudly LGBT and minority-owned and celebrates diversity and inclusion.
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