STORIES

The festive season is a special time when we carefully search for the perfect gifts for our loved ones. As Europe's leading omnichannel premium beauty destination, DOUGLAS understands the importance of creating an exceptional shopping experience during christmas season. But how do we, as a retailer, delight our customers with not only a diverse product assortment, but also an unparalleled shopping experience? A part of the answer lies in brand partnerships.

The Christmas season is not only a time for loving your nearest and dearest, but also a time for gifting. The heart-warming feeling when we bring joy to our loved ones, the sparkle in their eyes, the genuine smile, create a sense of connection and community - which scientist refer to as “warm glow” is exactly what Christmas is all about.

For the second year in a row, the DOUGLAS Group has conducted the Great Place to Work® employee survey. This comprehensive survey is designed to measure employee satisfaction and identify areas for improvement within the organization. We take pride in our predominantly positive results, officially recognizing us as a Great Place To Work® and demonstrate how well our purpose “Make Life More Beautiful” is embraced by every employee within the company. In this interview, Mareike Mende-Ratnam, Group CHRO, discusses the importance of employee satisfaction and the key takeaways the HR team has derived from the survey to further enhance our positive work environment.

In recent years, the nostalgic revival of the 1990s has captivated consumers across the globe, driving significant trends in fashion, entertainment, and even personal care. As the leading omnichannel premium beauty destination in Europe, we recognize the profound impact this nostalgia trend has on consumer behavior and brand management. By leveraging our omnichannel model, we can effectively respond to these cultural currents and provide our customers with innovative and memorable experiences.

As we navigate through an era of rapid technological advancement and societal change, understanding future trends becomes more crucial than ever. At DOUGLAS, we are committed to staying at the forefront of innovation and adapting to the evolving landscape of beauty and retail industry. To gain deeper insights into the transformative 'MegaTrends' shaping our future, we had the privilege of speaking with renowned futurist Mathias Haas.

Did you know that Niche Beauty has been part of the DOUGLAS Group since 2019? Our luxury subsidiary is fully dedicated to offering the most exciting and exquisite beauty brands in the world through its online shop. In the carefully curated selection, customers can find unique premium and niche products that are often only known to insiders. In this interview, Steven Mattwig, CEO Niche Beauty & parfumdreams, and Anne Zimmermann, Managing Director Niche Beauty, are giving insights into how they turned Niche Beauty into a love brand.

Our commitment to a sustainable development reached a new peak as four young talents from the DOUGLAS Group presented their sustainable and innovative idea at the United Nations Leaders Summit in New York. This pitch marked the highlight of the SDG Innovator Accelerator Program, showcasing our sustainability efforts on a global stage.

Did you know that we are not only a premium beauty retailer but also a media powerhouse? With our own Retail Media unit, we are at the forefront of the current digital advertising revolution. In this interview, Jessica Wegner, Senior Vice President Retail Media at the DOUGLAS Group, gives insights into our innovative Retail Media business.

We are redefining beauty with our deep commitment to sustainability. Discover how our updated strategy focuses on People, Planet, and Products, and watch our strategy video for an inside look at our vision for a greener future.

With the introduction of the Samsung XCover Pro smartphones as an all-in-one device for our Beauty-Advisors, we are enabling our store employees to handle numerous processes directly from the sales floor. Our customers also benefit from this: Queuing is a thing of the past, as checkout is possible directly from any location in our stores and during the consultation.

It is our purpose to make life more beautiful and encourage our customers to express their individual beauty. That’s why our assortment is characterized by variety and choice – including also a comprehensive range of products and brands developed at and exclusively available at the DOUGLAS Group. We have talked to our CEO Corporate Brands, Susanne Cornelius, about what’s behind our own brands strategy.

In July, we celebrated another huge milestone in our store network development initiative: The grand reopening of our "House of Beauty" in Vienna. Let's take a look back at the event!

How sustainable is the shower gel I use every day? Does the new skin care with its natural ingredients deliver what it promises? As a member of the EcoBeautyScore Consortium, the DOUGLAS Group is involved in the development of a standardized product label for evaluating the environmental impact of cosmetic products. The global initiative aims to provide consumers with better guidance.

The DOUGLAS Group has ambitious plans for its store network. Our SVP Group Controlling & Real Estate Marcel Uphues explains why our stores are increasingly becoming a point of experience – and what’s behind our store network strategy.

In this interview, our CCO Philipp Andrée gives insights into our omnichannel business model and explains its meaning and relevance for us as premium beauty retailer.

DOUGLAS is THE synonym for premium beauty across Europe. To create such a strong brand needs a clear vision and powerful marketing approach. Let’s take a look behind the scenes of our Group Marketing department – the place where our retail brand DOUGLAS is developed, shaped, and constantly modernized.

In this interview, DOUGLAS Group CEO Sander van der Laan explains the importance of sustainability at DOUGLAS and the strategy we are pursuing. He also outlines progress and our groupwide ambitions.

We have entered 2024 with our updated DOUGLAS Group purpose: Make Life More Beautiful. In this interview, CHRO Mareike Mende-Ratnam gives an insight into the process and explains what’s behind our purpose and values.

Sharing similar experiences, networking and jointly driving forward issues within the company - that's what employee networks are all about. Outside of their day-to-day work, several of our DOUGLAS Group colleagues from different departments are committed to promoting important matters at our company - and thus fostering diversity.