The world of aesthetic medicine is becoming more and more competitive. As commercial beauty stores begin to sell product lines to bigbox stores, an increased need for medical-grade products will rise. This increases the pressure on skin care product sales and profitability at many medical spa practices.Big box stores offer a wider distribution of the product lines they carry, which makes them more accessible to the masses.However, the secret to getting a leg up on this type of competition is to specialize, differentiate, and to make it easy to buy from the spa’s practice. Educate clients and bundle products with procedures for better results. 

SET YOURSELF APART

Focus on differentiating the practice and offering specialized skin care products with active ingredients that clients cannotget anywhere else.

Do this by selling private label, medical-grade over-the-countercosmeceuticals, or physician prescription-grade skin care products. This is something the commercial beauty stores of the world cannot do.Private branded products, especially medical-grade, bring clients back to the spa. They have an excellent margin (up to 300%), and they keep the name of the spa in front of clients’ mindson a daily basis.Sell homecare kits per skin solution based on skin type. 

Having the spa’s branded products prominently displayed and offering samples is an important way to introduce clients to the brand and helps close sales. Educated staff who are offering samples as an incentive plan to sell more products. Create monthly promotions to introduce products.Consider creating promotions with seasonal offerings or kits.

Create monthly auto-refill subscription programs. Prescription-strength products are important as well.Create a program to ship directly or offer curbside pick-up. Create extra income by adding virtual or in-person refill consults. Sell procedure packages and include a kit of three products to jumpstart a good home maintenance program. Easy-to-follow direction cardsare important and follow-up consultations monthly also create loyalty.

Branding and marketing are key components to building a successful medical aesthetics practice. An investment in a private label, physician-branded skin care line that carries the spa logo is a logical extension of the spa’s offerings. 

MAKING BUYING EASY

The pandemic has changed the way clients shop. Expect the growth in online shopping to continue even after the pandemic has ended because consumers have realized how convenient it is.

Spas must become comfortable doing business virtually.Promote the spa across a variety of social media channels.Include an online store on the spa’s website so clients can purchase private branded over-the-counter products.Offer a variety of online payment options ranging from credit or debit cards to PayPal, Apple Pay, and so on. Understanding that people are shopping more on mobile devices and buying through their Instagram or Facebook pages might be an option for the spa too.

The more convenient it is for clients to buy from the spa’s online store, the more likely they are to add to the spa’s bottom line. Know the demographics and the spa’s budget when creating a skin care line. Key ingredients are as important as the spa’s laboratory consultants are. There are a few different levels of private-label product branding. 

It is important not to overlook small things, like sulfate-free, paraben-free, and cruelty-free ingredients. It is all about emotions and being able to create products as skin solutions since it is after all an emotional purchase. Be the expert doing the skin consultations and recommending products to clients for their best results. They will appreciate branded home maintenance products that are created by chemists. And, as always, offer customizable annual programs at different levels for their skin types to provide the best solutions.