Health and beauty retailer Boots is poised to launch a major international expansion for its online business.

Boots will launch a new site called International.Boots.com in Europe with 23,000 products. The strategy will begin next month with a site in Ireland and then progress to other countries in mainland Europe. 

The Irish site will act as a trial for the roll-out, said Alex Gourlay, chief executive of health and beauty at the group's UK business. 

Yesterday the the retailer's owner Alliance Boots said trading profit increased 6.1 per cent to £1.27 billion and total group sales fell 2.6 per cent to £22.4 billion. Alliance Boots, which last year agreed a merger with US giant Walgreens, has begun to launch products in newly opened Walgreens stores. The US drug store also has a Boots area on its web site with about 300 products.

Like-for-like sales at its Boots business fell 0.7 per cent while trading profit at the UK increased 8.8 per cent to £813 million. Online sales increased 17 per cent. Mobile accounted for 25 per cent of visits and 45 per cent of orders were click and collect.