Bring It On Home
Customers need not forego the luxury of the spa experience if they have to products to treat themselves at home.
By Colleen Bohen -- Gifts and Dec, 7/1/2009 12:00:00 AM
Recent global economic malaise may be taking its toll across the board, but "you can only keep women from not spending for so long, and after that they feel deprived and they're going to go for things that make them feel better," says Anna May Curran, co-owner of Designed Treasures in Norristown, PA.
Enter the gift retailer with a wide variety of personal care products aimed at helping the consumer create a spa-like oasis at home.
"There is definitely a market for the gift boutiques to retail and capitalize on the at-home spa market. People aren't visiting spas as often," Carol Phillips, president of Encompass- One Marketing Group tells Gifts & Decorative Accessories. Phillips should know, she's scheduled to speak during an "Extreme Spa Retailing" seminar being presented in partnership with the Day Spa Association at the August 2009 New York International Gift Fair.
Phillips suggests gift retailers take a "benefit-driven" approach to selling these types of products. "[Retailers] need to tell the shopper what it is, why they should have it and why it's better than what they'll find [elsewhere] ... Just putting it on a shelf may not be enough," she says.
Phillips' approach appears particularly appropriate given recent beauty-industry predictions from market research firm Mintel. In April, the firm said it expected the challenging economy to drive consumers to cut back and buy only "the most effective, necessary products." In particular, "products claiming multiple benefits or uses in one bottle" and those boasting "convenience" claims should prove particularly popular in the near future.
While verbally explaining a product's benefits can be helpful, Phillips also suggests "telling the story visually" by providing information about a product's unique elements near the display. For example, she's recently noticed a number of retailers utilizing digital technology to run this type of information in a slideshow on a digital picture frame or flat-screen TV.
Judging by the Cover
As every nursery school teacher will tell you, and as we all ultimately learn, it is what's on the inside that counts. However, those in sales can never forget the importance of a pretty face, or in this case, a pretty package.
Mary Geohagan, founder and owner of Alpharetta, GA-based Do Not Disturb, tells Gifts & Decorative Accessories that even though her company began by producing its in-home spa relaxation products for the spa and resort market more than a decade ago, it now has an even stronger presence in the gift market. She says many consumers share stories of how her products have helped them, but she attributes her products' gift-industry-strength in large part to its packaging.
A number of retailers agreed that packaging can be a make-or-break factor in the sale of personal care/spa products in the gift market.
"A lot of companies do a tremendous job of presentation, other companies just ship you bottles. I think bottles will sit on a shelf a lot longer," said Designed Treasures' Curran.
Similarly, Chris Sondermann, owner of Terra Verde in Colorado Springs, CO, says "the product lines that are strongest for us are the ones that have clever, attractive packaging."
Everything in Its Place
There are competing ideas regarding the most effective ways to place spa products and other personal care items in a gift store. "Putting anything 'spa' in a gift store is very difficult because we [generally] don't have the means in a gift store to show how it works," says Designed Treasures' Curran.
Terra Verde's Sondermann tells Gifts & Decorative Accessories that she has found it best to pair spa products with items from other categories to help add-on sales. She says her store features various vignettes with personal care products mixed in with items like towels, soap dishes or books to "create an effect."
Sondermann says her store reworks these vignettes frequently because "it looks like we have more turnover of merchandise and more lines coming in than we actually have. We re-merchandise them and present them in a fresh way once a month or so. It creates a whole story."
EncompassOne's Phillips, however, believes such an approach runs the risk of visually overwhelming the consumer. She says "They're going to need to have enough product that says they're serious about [the category]. Two or three little jars or bottles aren't going to make enough of a statement to the shopper because so many gift boutiques are so visually busy ... They need to have enough SKUs on the shelf to have [the category] stand out."
Show and Tell
One particularly effective way to make one's spa products stand out is through an in-store demo or event.
Do Not Disturb's Geohagan tells Gifts & Decorative Accessories some of her retail partners have asked local masseuses to visit their stores and give complimentary massages near their personal care products.
Others, she says, have hosted product demonstration parties and asked guests to leave contact information for a husband or boyfriend along with a "wish list" of their favorite products from the party. These retailers later followed up with the clients' loved ones to make them aware of the attendees' wishes for gift-giving occasions. Geohagan said men, in particular, have been very appreciative. "They're clueless," she says. "They want a win on their hands and they're tired of giving the same old thing."
Certain manufacturers will provide retailers with samples for promotional events. For instance, Sandi Davidson, owner of AnnSandra in Annandale, VA, says she hosts an event featuring Thymes products at least once a year. "We receive samples and we package them like a gift that we hand out to our customers," she says. A sales representative answers customers questions during the event, and the store gives away a basket of the company's product in a drawing.
Finally, retailers who would like to promote their spa-related products but who find the idea of planning an in-store event too daunting should consider turning to someone like Erica Hergenroeder, president of Annapolis Spa Party, in Edgewater, MD. Hergenroeder's company began by producing spa parties in people's homes, but launched its business-targeted Shop-N-Spa service a year and a half ago.
Through Shop-N-Spa, Hergenroeder and her staff work with retailers to plan and produce customized in-store spa events. Clients can choose a variety of on-the-spot treatments including quick manicures, massages and body treatment services.
While hiring such a service can be pricier than going it alonee — Hergenroeder estimated an event lasting between 2½ to 4 hours could cost a minimum of $2,500, depending on the package — the inclusion of customized event marketing materials and the time and effort saved by outsourcing such a project might be worth the expense to retailers who are less experienced at producing their own events.
Whatever route you take, there can be profit in pampering for the savvy gift retailer.
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