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COWEN
COLLABORATIVE INSIGHTS February 25, 2019
Cannabidiol (CBD) Entrance Into Mass Retail May Start In Beauty Before
Entering Broadlines (Chen)
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Cowen’s take is that first movers may predominantly consist of independent operators,
followed by beauty, convenience, and other major chains. We believe that growth could
take on a barbell dynamic, with early adopters being both high-end luxury players
alongside lower-end local convenience shops, with middle-ground retailers including
WMT, TGT, and COST likely being the last to sell CBD products after a test-and-learn
phase is observed among the early adopters. We expect that CBD in beauty could be a
~$1bn opportunity within skincare specifically; the skincare category currently
comprises ~23% of the overall $87bn beauty products market.
Luxury Department Stores Are Early Adopters. A number of independent retail
operators have recently announced plans to expand their physical presence to
incorporate CBD. For example, luxury department store Barneys New York is adding a
300-square-foot cannabis store-within-store concept called “The High End” to its
flagship store in Beverly Hills, where it will sell CBD beauty products and vintage
paraphernalia. Neiman Marcus also announced its “Trending Beauty’ initiative, which
includes carrying leading CBD brands (5 SKUs) online and within 5 of its 44 stores.
Another example is Green Growth Brands (CSE: GGB, not covered) recently announcing a
deal with DSW Inc. (DSW, not covered) to sell its Seventh Sense brand within 96 US-
based DSW stores; this announcement comes after a 10-week trial phase where 74.4%
of product presented on shelves was reportedly sold. GGB also announced it will open
108 stores within Simon Property malls (SPG, not covered), starting in March 2019.
Beauty Could Be First Major Distribution Channel. Cowen believes that the future of
beauty will increasingly emphasize clean, natural ingredients within products — in line
with the broader health and wellness movement that is permeating into various other
retail verticals. Therefore, we believe that beauty could be the first major distribution
channel to adopt CBD given the compound's properties as a natural remedy to manage
pain, inflammation, and anxiety.
Sephora.com currently carries 3 SKUs with CBD dosages (Lord Jones and Josie Maran),
and a variety of hemp-based products. Meanwhile, ULTA only has hemp-based offerings
but could adopt a comparable line to Sephora within its Prestige assortment. Average
Unit Retail (AUR) for the three Sephora CBD SKUs is ~$70, or $1.85/mL, which supports
our view that adopters will skew toward Prestige-cosmetics-oriented retailers such as
specialty beauty players (Sephora, ULTA) and department stores (JWN, M), before Mass
cosmetics carriers like grocery stores, pharmacies or broadline retailers adopt it, as price
points are closer to $10/SKU.
Historically, broadline retailers, including WMT, TGT, and COST have shied away from
entering controversial categories in their earlier innings, preferring to be last movers
and not create controversies. We do note, TGT has previously made small inroads into
CBD. According to AdAge, TGT briefly sold hemp and CBD oils in late 2017 before pulling
all the products. Also, we note, WMT’s website does sell several hemp oil products.
Figure 114 CBD Presence Is Limited In Mass Retail Outlets
Broadline Beauty Pharmacy/Mass
WMT TGT COST ULTA Sephora (LVMH) CVS WBA
Carry CBD Products x b4 b4 x v x x
Garry temp Seed Products ns ses eens es a oe
CBD SKU Count nfa n/a n/a nf/a 3 n/a n/a
Note: CVS and WBA are covered by Charles Rhyee
Source: Cowen and Company, company websites; Note: Search “CBD oil, CBD, Cannabis, Cannabis Oil”
COWEN.COM 69
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| Indexed | 2026-02-04T16:55:34.400488 |