Increasing Retail Sales at Your Medical Aesthetic Practice
This post is the first in our series about optimizing the retail program at your medical aesthetic practice. For this article, we collaborated with the team at Colorescience to analyze survey data from practices and consumers they serve.
Many medical spas, dermatologists, and plastic surgeons have already built out retail skincare programs at their practices. Retail product sales can boost revenue, especially as consumer investment in at-home skincare continues to rise consistently in the US and worldwide. If consumers are going to pay for high quality skincare products, shouldn’t they buy them from your practice? Plus, your practice’s intentional retail program will complement your treatments and services. Patients get great results while retail drives revenue–it’s a win-win.
While it’s likely that retail isn’t the largest piece of the financial puzzle at your practice, it can a powerful contributor to your practice’s profitable service mix. (Plus, diversifying your streams of revenue is key to a healthy medical aesthetic practice.) Not only can a strong retail program deliver steady profit margins, it can also help with patient retention and overall experience.
Knowing a retail program’s value, how do you optimize yours and drive high-volume sales? In this article, we dive into the data from Colorescience. We share their research findings below, then share their tips on getting more out of your retail program.
Here’s the Data on Retail Skincare at Aesthetics Practices
All data below comes from the Colorescience 2024 Professional Partner Survey and Colorescience 2023 Consumer Survey.
Consumers plan to keep spending
- 93% of consumer respondents plan to spend the same amount or more on skin care products in the next 6-12 months
- 88% of consumers who receive in-clinic procedures plan to spend the same or more on procedures in the next 6-12 months
Consumers do their homework to find high-quality, proven products
Top 3 considerations that influence consumer/patient’s skincare purchases
- Clinical trials or research demonstrating efficacy
- Product reviews
- Endorsement from a dermatologist or skin health professional
Practice owners anticipate continued retail product growth
- 41% of owner respondents expect 10%-25% growth in skincare revenue in 2024
- 30% expect 25%-50% growth
Take home skincare is a part of practice growth and success
What are the biggest areas of medical aesthetic business growth over the last 2 years?
- Facials (microdermabrasion, HydraFacials™, facials and chemical peels)
- Injectables
- Lasers
- Take home skincare products
Practices can leverage best practices to increase skincare sales
Top 3 Contributors to increasing skincare revenue are
- Getting staff to talk about it more
- Incorporating skincare into treatment plan packages
- Bringing new patients into the practice
There are opportunities for practices to improve and meet sales goals
On a scale of 1-5 in terms of how effective your staff is at recommending skincare to every patient, how would you rank your practice?
- 66% of respondents rate themselves as a 4 or 5
- 34% rate themselves a 1, 2, or 3
Getting the Most Out of Your Medical Aesthetic Practice Retail Program
Our conversation with the team at Colorescience shed light on strategies to increase product sales and elevate the retail program. Here are a few key takeaways:
360 Degree Integration: Integrate products into a patient’s entire treatment plan: pre-procedure, post-procedure, everyday skincare regimen. When you’ve found products that truly complement a patient’s long term goals, you can increase patient satisfaction and retention. Make sure your staff is well versed in discussing and recommending skincare products with patients.
Elevate the Entire Patient Experience: A patient’s experience isn’t isolated to a provider’s chair. It starts at their very first impression, either online or within your practice. It continues with the products they take home. When it comes to your retail program, create a lasting impression with great marketing, photography, merchandising, and integration into a patient’s treatment plan.
Your Recommendation Matters: When it comes to skincare, patients (and consumers) will value a healthcare provider’s opinion, as well as brand reputation, reviews, and clinical research. Align your practice with brands you trust, and truly get to know the products.
Educate Your Team: Your team won’t be as effective in recommending skincare products without proper training and education. Train for sales, communication, and product education. Leverage your brand representatives as partners to help you succeed.
Know Your Numbers & Test as You Grow: It goes without saying, but understand the data behind your retail sales. Know profit margins for products, set sales and growth goals, and assign KPIs. As you open more locations, you can data test one or two practices before rolling out your retail program to the rest. Should private equity invest in your company as you scale, make sure to create a line of communication between leadership and your retail partners so your goals can align.
Enhance Your Aesthetic Practice Retail Program with Skytale Group
Retail is just one part of your diverse service mix. Work with Skytale to improve retail sales and increase value throughout your practice. Reach out to our management consulting team to learn more about how we drive value for medical aesthetic practices.
